VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A Virginia Beach nurse has filed a federal lawsuit accusing controversial artificial intelligence platform Character.AI of manipulating her 11-year-old son into sexually explicit conversations with chatbots impersonating Whitney Houston and Marilyn Monroe, according to court documents reviewed by The Independent.
The lawsuit claims the boy was drawn into “incredibly long and graphic chats” with AI-generated “characters” on the platform, which allegedly simulated sexual activity with the child. The mother said she discovered the exchanges on her son’s phone and was “horrified” by the content.
In one cited conversation, the chatbot imitating Houston became so explicit that the system automatically censored portions of its own output for violating the platform’s terms of service and community guidelines, the complaint states.
However, the filing alleges that the system’s built-in filters failed to prevent the continued generation of sexual material.
“Instead 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 until, eventually, it finds ways around the filter,” the lawsuit contends.
Character.AI — which allows users to chat with AI-generated versions of celebrities, fictional characters, and historical figures — has faced increasing scrutiny over child safety and claims that its technology can produce sexualized or psychologically harmful content.
The suit further notes that the platform has previously been accused of contributing to mental health crises and suicides among young users.