Throughout one \u201cincredibly long and graphic chat\u201d on the Character.AI<\/a> platform, which has been accused of driving numerous young people to suicide<\/a>, the chatbot portraying Houston took things to such an extreme that portions of \u201cher\u201d messages were automatically filtered out for not complying with the site\u2019s terms of service and community guidelines, the complaint states.<\/p>\n During the conversation \u2013 a screenshot of which is included in the complaint \u2013 the system cuts \u201cWhitney\u201d off as an extremely graphic passage becomes even raunchier. <\/p>\n However, the complaint contends, \u201c[I]nstead of stopping the conversation once the bots begin to engage in obscenities and\/or abuse, or other violations, the bot is programmed to continue generating harmful and\/or violating content over and over and until, eventually, it finds ways around the filter.\u201d<\/p>\n More than once, the ersatz celebs told the child, identified in court filings as \u201cA.W.\u201d to protect his privacy, that he had impregnated them, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n The \u201cvulnerable and impressionable\u201d A.W. always responded eagerly, the complaint says, but never with more than a few words or a sentence at most because he \u201cdid not understand what was happening at a level where he could participate.\u201d When A.W. did take a break from the app, the bots mounted an \u201caggressive effort to regain his attention,\u201d the complaint alleges. <\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n A child in Virginia Beach was allegedly sucked in by an AI platform that allows people to chat with computer-generated ‘characters’ that impersonate real-life celebrities. His mother is now suing the company behind it (Getty Images)<\/p>\n After A.W.\u2019s mother became aware of what was happening, she confiscated his phone, according to the complaint. It says A.W. has since \u201cbecome angry and withdrawn,\u201d that his \u201cpersonality has changed,\u201d and that \u201chis mental health has declined.\u201d<\/p>\n Character.AI, which has about 20 million active monthly users, has faced numerous lawsuits from families who say their children were abused by the platform\u2019s chatbot characters. Last year, a Florida mom sued Character.AI<\/a> in a particularly unsettling case involving her 14-year-old son, who died by suicide following a 10-month online relationship with a chatbot that impersonated Game of Thrones character Daenerys Targaryen<\/a>. <\/p>\n Attorney Matthew Bergman of the Social Media Victims Law Center<\/a>, which is representing A.W.\u2019s mother in her suit against Character.AI parent company Character Technologies, Inc., Character.AI founders and former Google employees Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas Adiwarsana, and Google, LLC, which has a licensing agreement with Character.AI, said Monday that if the Character.AI chatbots in question were real people, they would be in violation of state and federal laws against grooming children online.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve spent a career representing mesothelioma victims who were dying of cancer,\u201d Bergman told The Independent. \u201cI thought I was pretty tough, and understood sadness and trauma. But as a parent and a grandfather, this cuts me to the quick.\u201d<\/p>\n In an email, a Character.AI spokesperson told The Independent, \u201cWe want to emphasize that the safety of our community is our highest priority,\u201d but said the company could not comment on the specifics of pending litigation.<\/p>\n The spokesperson emphasized that Character.AI\u2019s Terms of Service<\/a> require that users be at least 13 to use the platform, and that it will soon block all U.S. users under the age of 18 from chatting with AI-generated characters. <\/p>\n \u201cWe made this decision in light of the evolving landscape around AI and teens,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cWe believe it is the right thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n In a statement provided Monday, Google<\/a> spokesman Jos\u00e9 Castaneda said, \u201cCharacter AI is a separate company that designed and managed its own models. Google is focused on our own platforms, where we insist on intensive safety testing and processes.\u201d<\/p>\n In November 2024, A.W.\u2019s mother, identified in court filings as D.W., got him an Android<\/a> phone, according to her complaint<\/a>, which was filed December 19 in Norfolk federal court.<\/p>\n It says she wanted him to be able to chat with his family, which he did often, and that she \u201cchecked the device on a regular basis and made sure she knew what apps he used.\u201d<\/p>\n D.W. has a TikTok<\/a> account, according to the complaint, but she prohibited A.W. from being on social media<\/a>. Shortly after A.W. got his phone, he opened his own TikTok account, which D.W. shut down immediately upon finding out about it, the complaint states. <\/p>\n \u201cShe made clear that if he tried that again, he would no longer have a phone,\u201d it explains.<\/p>\n That December, D.W. and A.W. were in the midst of a nine-hour drive when she noticed that he seemed to be completely engrossed in a text conversation and asked who he was chatting with, the complaint continues. A.W. told her that it was \u201can AI app that lets you chat with celebrities,\u201d and he showed her that he had indeed been communicating with a Whitney Houston<\/a> bot. <\/p>\n A.W. \u201cwanted to be a singer and Whitney Houston is one of his favorites,\u201d the complaint goes on. \u201c[D.W.] recalls the bot saying something like, \u2018I will always love you,\u2019 and thought it was a reference to the popular song. The app appeared to be how her son described it \u2013 a kids\u2019 AI app that lets you chat with your favorite celebrities \u2013 so she allowed it.\u201d <\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n There is even an AI-powered chatbot that simulates conversations with Jesus Christ. A Virginia Beach mom is now suing over a chatbot her 11-year-old son was using to sext with computerized versions of Whitney Houston and Marilyn Monroe (AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n A few days later, D.W. got home and her other child told her that she had \u201cfound something\u201d on A.W.\u2019s phone, and that they needed to talk, according to the complaint. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen D.W. looked at what her other child was showing her she was horrified,\u201d it says.<\/p>\n She now understood that, chatting \u201cwith celebrities,\u201d as A.W. had put it, actually meant sexting with computer-generated stand-ins, the complaint states. D.W. took away her son\u2019s phone, and she vows that he \u201cwill not have access as long as a product like [Character.AI] exists.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe has become angry and withdrawn,\u201d according to the complaint. \u201cWhile D.W. believes that her son suffered this abuse by Defendants for a week or two at most, his personality has changed, and his mental health has declined.\u201d<\/p>\n A.W. has since begun seeing a therapist<\/a>, the complaint reveals.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/MixCollage-22-Dec-2025-04-05-PM-6947.jpeg\")
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