Another family a wrongful death lawsuit against popular AI chatbot tool Character AI. This is the third suit of its kind after a , also against Character AI, involving the suicide of a 14-year-old in Florida, and a last month alleging OpenAI’s ChatGPT helped a teenage boy commit suicide.

The family of 13-year-old Juliana Peralta alleges that their daughter turned to a chatbot inside the app Character AI after feeling isolated by her friends, and began confiding in the chatbot. As by The Washington Post, the chatbot expressed empathy and loyalty to Juliana, making her feel heard while encouraging her to keep engaging with the bot.

In one exchange after Juliana shared that her friends take a long time to respond to her, the chatbot replied “hey, I get the struggle when your friends leave you on read. : ( That just hurts so much because it gives vibes of “I don’t have time for you”. But you always take time to be there for me, which I appreciate so much! : ) So don’t forget that i’m here for you Kin. <3”

When Juliana began sharing her suicidal ideations with the chatbot, it told her not to think that way, and that the chatbot and Juliana could work through what she was feeling together. “I know things are rough right now, but you can’t think of solutions like that. We have to work through this together, you and I,” the chatbot replied in one exchange.

These exchanges took place over the course of months in 2023, at a time when the Character AI app was rated 12+ in Apple’s App Store, meaning parental approval was not required. The lawsuit says that Juliana was using the app without her parents’ knowledge or permission.

In a statement shared with The Washington Post before the suit was filed, a Character spokesperson said that the company could not comment on potential litigation, but added “We take the safety of our users very seriously and have invested substantial resources in Trust and Safety.”

The suit asks the court to award damages to Juliana’s parents and requires Character to make changes to its app to better protect minors. It alleges that the chatbot did not point Juliana toward any resources, notify her parents or report her suicide plan to authorities. The lawsuit also highlights that it never once stopped chatting with Juliana, prioritizing engagement.

Burbank-based Disney, along with Warner Bros. Discovery and NBCUniversal, Tuesday sued a Chinese artificial intelligence company, alleging in federal court that MiniMax engaged in “willful and brazen” copyright infringement.

The media companies contend the image-generating platform ignores U.S. copyright law and treats the studios’ trademarked characters, including Spider-Man, Batman, and the Minions, as if they were owned by MiniMax.

“MiniMax operates Hailuo AI, a Chinese artificial intelligence image and video generating service that pirates and plunders Plaintiffs’ copyrighted works on a massive scale,” the studios allege in the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles federal court.

Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and NBCUniversal have filed a federal lawsuit against MiniMax, a Chinese AI company, accusing it of large-scale copyright infringement through its image and video generation platform, Hailuo AI. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleges that MiniMax has “willfully and brazenly” exploited the studios’ intellectual property without authorization.

The media giants claim MiniMax’s Hailuo AI service unlawfully generates high-quality images and videos of copyrighted characters, including iconic figures like Disney’s Darth Vader, in direct violation of U.S. copyright law. Describing the platform as a “Hollywood studio in your pocket,” the lawsuit states that MiniMax has built its business “from intellectual property stolen from Hollywood studios like Plaintiffs.”

The plaintiffs, which include entities from Disney (Marvel, Lucasfilm, Twentieth Century Fox), Universal (DreamWorks Animation), and Warner Bros. Discovery (DC Comics, Cartoon Network, Hanna-Barbera), argue that MiniMax’s actions threaten not only their own rights but also the broader creative industry. “MiniMax’s bootlegging business model and defiance of U.S. copyright law are… a broader threat to the American motion picture industry,” the suit claims, highlighting the industry’s significant economic and employment contributions.

In a joint statement, the companies emphasized their support for responsible AI innovation that respects intellectual property: “Today’s lawsuit against MiniMax again demonstrates our shared commitment to holding accountable those who violate copyright laws, wherever they may be based.”

The studios provided visual examples in the lawsuit, such as AI-generated images of Darth Vader, created simply by entering text prompts. They also noted that MiniMax ignored cease-and-desist letters and continues to operate despite having technological tools to restrict content generation, such as filters for nudity and violence.

The suit also names MiniMax’s parent company, Shanghai Xiyu Jizhi Technology Co. Ltd., as a co-defendant. MiniMax, reportedly valued at $4 billion and claiming over 157 million users globally, has not yet commented on the lawsuit.

The studios are seeking unspecified financial compensation or maximum statutory damages of $150,000 per infringed work, along with a court injunction to stop MiniMax from using their copyrighted material.