Character.AI is a $1 billion AI startup founded by two former Google engineers. After leaving Google to start the company, Character.AI cofounders Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas are back at Google.
Character.AI has over 20 million users who regularly talk to AI chatbots. The company told The New York Times that Gen Z and younger millennials make up a significant portion of that user base. That detail came up in the aftermath of an incredibly unfortunate event that involved a teen and Game of Thrones-inspired Character.AI character named Daenerys Targaryen (Dany). A 14-year-old named Sewell Setzer III from Orlando, Florida took his own life in late February after becoming increasingly obsessed with the Character.AI AI companion.
Setzer’s family now plans to sue Character.AI, alleging the company is responsible for the death. The startup’s technology is supposedly “dangerous and untested,” according to a draft of the lawsuit The Times has seen. The AI tech can “trick customers into handing over their most private thoughts and feelings.”
The post Family sues after teen obsessed with Character.AI commits suicide appeared first on BGR.
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Family sues after teen obsessed with Character.AI commits suicide originally appeared on BGR.com on Wed, 23 Oct 2024 at 10:40:16 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.