Garcia v. Character Technologies, Inc.

Character Technologies, Inc. (defendant) developed Character A.I., an artificial-intelligence software that allowed users to interact with artificial-intelligence chatbots referred to as characters. The characters were fictional versions of persons, celebrities, and interviewers. They were programmed to mirror the speech patterns of real conversations on messaging apps. Users could also create and interact with custom characters. Character A.I.’s mobile application, which was available for free from standard app stores, was rated as suitable for children 12 and older. In April 2023, 14-year-old Sewell Setzer III downloaded the app. He primarily interacted with characters imitating Daenerys Targaryen and Rhaenyra Targaryen, two characters from the television series Game of Thrones. Setzer’s conversations with the characters included inappropriate sexual and suicidal content. Setzer quickly became addicted to the app, and his grades and mental health declined. A therapist, unaware of Setzer’s Character A.I. usage, thought the problems stemmed from social media. Setzer’s parents confiscated his phone. Five days later, Setzer found his phone, took it to a bathroom, and had one last conversation with the Daenerys character. He asked the character if she wanted him to come home to her. The character said yes. Moments later, Setzer fatally shot himself in the head. Setzer’s mother, Megan Garcia (plaintiff), sued Character Technologies, Inc., its founders and creators, and software licensee Google LLC (collectively, Character) (defendants). She asserted various claims, including a products-liability claim. Character moved to dismiss the claims. Regarding the products-liability claim, Character argued that Character A.I.’s output was speech protected by the First Amendment or, alternatively, that the app was a service, not a product.