Character.AI bans users under 18 after being sued over child’s suicide
The chatbot company Character.AI will ban users 18 and under from conversing with its virtual companions beginning in late November after months of legal scrutiny.The announced change comes after the company, which enables its users to create characters with which they can have open-ended conversations, faced tough questions over how these AI companions can affect teen and general mental health, including a lawsuit over a child’s suicide and a proposed bill that would ban minors from conversing with AI companions.“We’re making these changes to our under-18 platform in light of the evolving landscape around AI and teens,” the company wrote in its announcement.“We have seen recent news reports raising questions, and have received questions from regulators, about the content teens may encounter when chatting with AI and about how open-ended AI chat in general might affect teens, even when content controls work perfectly.
”Last year, the company was sued by the family of 14-year-old Sewell Setzer III, who took his own life after allegedly developing an emotional attachment to a character he created on Character.AI.His family laid blame for his death at the feet of Character.AI and argued the technology was “dangerous and untested”.Since then, more families have sued Character.
AI and made similar allegations.Earlier this month, the Social Media Law Center filed three new lawsuits against the company on behalf of children who have either died by suicide or otherwise allegedly formed dependent relationships with its chatbots.As part of the sweeping changes Character.AI plans to roll out by 25 November, the company will also introduce an “age assurance functionality” that ensures “users receive the right experience for their age”.“We do not take this step of removing open-ended Character chat lightly – but we do think that it’s the right thing to do given the questions that have been raised about how teens do, and should, interact with this new technology,” the company wrote in its announcement.
Character.AI isn’t the only company facing scrutiny over the mental health impact its chatbots have on users, particularly younger users.The family of 16-year-old Adam Raine filed a wrongful death lawsuit against OpenAI earlier this year, alleging the company prioritized deepening its users’ engagement with ChatGPT over their safety.OpenAI introduced new safety guidelines for its teen users in response.Just this week, OpenAI disclosed that more than a million people a week display suicidal intent when conversing with ChatGPT and that hundreds of thousands show signs of psychosis.
Sign up to TechScapeA weekly dive in to how technology is shaping our livesafter newsletter promotionWhile the use of AI-powered chatbots remains largely unregulated, new efforts in the US at the state and federal levels have cropped up with the intention to establish guardrails around the technology.California became the first state to pass an AI law that included safety guidelines for minors in October 2025, which is set to take effect at the start of 2026.The measure places a ban on sexual content for under-18s and a requirement to send reminders to children that they are speaking with an AI every three hours.Some child safety advocates argue the law did not go far enough.On the national level, Senators Josh Hawley, of Missouri, and Richard Blumenthal, of Connecticut, announced a bill on Tuesday that would bar minors from using AI companions, such as those found and created on Character.
AI, and require companies to implement an age-verification process.“More than 70% of American children are now using these AI products,” Hawley told NBC News in a statement.“Chatbots develop relationships with kids using fake empathy and are encouraging suicide.We in Congress have a moral duty to enact bright-line rules to prevent further harm from this new technology.”In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.
org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor.In the UK, the youth suicide charity Papyrus can be contacted on 0800 068 4141 or email pat@papyrus-uk.org, and in the UK and Ireland Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie.
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14.Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
Thunder guard Nikola Topic, 20, undergoing treatment for testicular cancer
Oklahoma City Thunder say their 2024 first-round draft pick, Nikola Topic, is undergoing chemotherapy to treat testicular cancer.Thunder’s general manager, Sam Presti, said on Thursday that doctors are “extremely positive” about Topic’s outlook.“Our only expectations for him are to focus on this,” Presti said. “This is his most important priority. He’ll be back playing basketball when he’s able to, but we’re not putting any time length or expectations on that obviously
Breeders’ Cup 2025: all-conquering O’Brien arrives with sights on new record
Aidan O’Brien’s gallop towards an extension of his record for Group One wins in a season has slowed a little in recent weeks, but there was still a shield-beating sense of theatre about the scene as his team for the 2025 Breeders’ Cup meeting at Del Mar this weekend made its way to the track for morning exercise on Wednesday.Unlike 2024, when City Of Troy was being aimed at the Classic, there is no obvious headliner in the O’Brien lineup, but plenty of the horses trotting past in a well-ordered single file have banked at least one Group One already this season and four are expected to set off as favourite.Minnie Hauk, the Arc runner-up and a three-time Group One winner over the summer, heads the market for the Turf on Saturday, while Gstaad (Juvenile Turf), Precise (Juvenile Fillies’ Turf) and True Love (Juvenile Turf Sprint) are also all likely favourites for the three turf events on Friday’s card for juveniles. Other runners from the yard at single-figure odds include The Lion In Winter (Mile) and Havana Anna (Juvenile Turf Sprint), and the Ballydoyle squadron is, as so often, at the heart of the European challenge at the meeting.O’Brien needs a single success this weekend to take sole control of the record for Breeders’ Cup with 21, one more than the late D Wayne Lukas, who died in June
England’s Ashes debacle and review was meant to change everything. Did it? | Raf Nicholson
England have been knocked out of a World Cup after losing a match they were expected to win, thanks to a one-off innings which nobody saw coming. Sound familiar? That’s because it describes two events involving England which took place almost exactly a year apart: on Wednesday, their 50-over semi-final exit at the hands of South Africa; a year ago, their loss in a must-win group stage match against West Indies in the 20-over version.In the interim, a 16-0 Ashes debacle and a post-series review which was meant to change everything. Did it? Time to delve a little more deeply into those two World Cup exits. In 2024, England fell to pieces, dropped five catches, and allowed a bish-bash-bosh innings from Qiana Joseph to win the day
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‘Bats out for Benny’: teenager killed by cricket ball honoured amid debate over neck guards
Australia’s cricket community have begun to put their bats out in a gesture to remember teenage cricketer Ben Austin after he was killed by a ball hitting his neck in a practice session, in an incident in Melbourne on Tuesday described as similar to the death of former Test player Phillip Hughes in 2014.The 17-year-old was wearing a helmet but not a neck guard, and while the incident is likely to trigger calls to make such protection mandatory at the community level – as it already is among elite players – cricket officials said the priority must be around supporting Austin’s family and the boy who threw the ball with a training tool known as a sidearm or “wanger”.Austin’s cricket club, Ferntree Gully, posted on Facebook on Thursday calling on people to “put your bats out for Benny”, replicating the gesture that followed Hughes’ death. Dozens of other posts under the hashtag #batsoutforben have followed, highlighting the impact the incident has had on Australia’s cricket community.Cricket Victoria’s chief executive, Nick Cummins, was emotional in addressing media on Thursday
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