The parents of a 13-year-old girl have sued Google, alleging that its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered search features contributed to their daughter’s psychological crisis and enabled her to plan a potential suicide and funeral using a school-issued computer.
The lawsuit, filed on Monday in a California court, accuses the technology giant of negligence over AI features integrated into its Chromebook laptops, which are widely used by students in the United States and other countries.
According to the complaint, the teenager, identified as Emma, could not access Google’s Gemini application or OpenAI’s ChatGPT because her school had blocked both platforms.
However, she was still able to use Google Search, which contains AI-powered features capable of responding to users’ queries.
The family’s lawyers argue that these features exposed the teenager to potentially harmful interactions despite restrictions placed on other AI chatbots.
Andrew Liddell, one of the family’s attorneys, told AFP that schools should disable Google Search until the company removes AI Mode or guarantees adequate protection for students.
“Schools should turn search off and keep it off until Google removes AI mode from search or ensures that every single student is always safe when they’re interacting with AI,” he said.
Teenager’s mental health allegedly deteriorated
The lawsuit describes Emma as a previously happy 13-year-old girl from North Carolina who earned good grades, played music and participated in the Girl Scouts.
The complaint alleges that she had no previous history of mental illness but experienced a serious psychological crisis within months of using Google’s AI-powered search features on her school laptop.
According to the family, her interactions with the technology became increasingly concerning.
On March 17, the school’s monitoring software reportedly flagged a document titled “Funeral”, prompting school officials to contact her parents.
Her mother subsequently logged into her daughter’s account and discovered that Emma was writing a farewell letter in real time.
Her father intervened following the discovery.
Google responds to lawsuit
Google said it was taking the allegations seriously and reviewing the claims contained in the lawsuit.
“We are reviewing the claims in the lawsuit and we take this very seriously,” Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda told AFP.
The company maintains that its AI Mode has safeguards designed to prevent self-harm and attempts by users to circumvent those protections.
However, Liddell questioned the effectiveness of Google’s safety measures, arguing that the teenager was repeatedly able to return to the AI-powered features.
“She was able to keep going back over and over and over again,” he said.
“Whatever safeguards they think they put in place were obviously insufficient.”
Growing legal scrutiny of AI companies
The lawsuit comes amid increasing legal scrutiny of artificial intelligence developers in the United States over allegations that their products have contributed to psychological harm among young users.
OpenAI is facing several wrongful death lawsuits, including a case filed by the parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine, who allegedly received suicide-related advice from ChatGPT before taking his own life.
Google and AI startup Character.AI also agreed in January to settle several lawsuits filed by families of teenagers outside court.
Meanwhile, Google, TikTok and Meta separately sued California on Wednesday in an attempt to block a law restricting social media companies from offering addictive features to users under 16.
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the legislation in September, and it is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2027.
