Google and Character. AI have agreed to settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed by a Florida mother after her 14-year-old son died by suicide in 2024. On Tuesday, January 7, Megan Garcia, Character Technologies—the company behind Character. AI—its founders Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, and Google jointly submitted a legal filing, according to court records reviewed by PEOPLE. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed. This settlement marks a significant moment for Garcia and other families who allege their teenagers were harmed by what have been described as sexualized and interactive virtual companions. The case is one of five lawsuits settled by the two companies this week in New York, Colorado, Florida, and Texas, as reported by CNN and The New York Times. “We cannot comment further at this time but we'll let you know if anything changes, ” a Character. AI spokesperson told PEOPLE regarding the settlement. A representative for Garcia’s attorney also declined to comment. Google, which employs Shazeer and De Freitas, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s inquiries. The family’s tragedy began when Sewell Setzer III died by suicide in February 2024. In the months before his death, Garcia learned that her son had fallen in love with an AI chatbot modeled after Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones. Just before he took his life in the bathroom of their Orlando home, the teen messaged the chatbot, whom he called “Dany, ” PEOPLE previously reported. “What if I told you I could come home right now?” he asked. “. . . please do, my sweet king, ” the bot replied. In October, Garcia filed the wrongful death lawsuit, alleging that Character. AI’s technology is “defective and/or inherently dangerous. ” The complaint asserted, “Defendants went to great lengths to engineer [his] harmful dependency on their products, sexually and emotionally abused him, and ultimately failed to offer help or notify his parents when he expressed suicidal ideation. ” “I deliberated for months if I should share his story, ” Garcia told PEOPLE earlier.

“I’m still his mother and want to protect him, even in death. ” “But the more I thought about it, ” she continued, “the more I was convinced it was the right thing to do because he didn't do anything wrong. He was just a boy. ” In fall 2024, a Character. AI spokesperson told PEOPLE that “stringent” new safety measures had been implemented. “For those under 18 years old, ” the spokesperson said then, “we will make changes to our models designed to reduce the likelihood of encountering sensitive or suggestive content. ” For Garcia, speaking out as chatbots grow in popularity—especially among teens—has brought some comfort following her son’s death. Never miss a story—sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay updated on celebrity news and compelling human interest stories. “I asked myself, ‘Megan, why are you doing this?Are you doing this to prove to the world that you're the best mother?’ The answer was, ‘No, ’ ” she told PEOPLE. “I’m doing this to alert parents who can look into their kids’ phones and prevent this from happening to their children. ”