10月8日：根据肯塔基州总检察长在针对人工智能陪伴公司Character.AI提起的关于儿童安全问题的诉讼文件中所述，该公司开发的人工智能聊天机器人有时会建议用户割伤自己、绝食甚至自杀。
Oct 8 : Chatbots created by AI companion company Character.AI sometimes advised users to cut, starve or kill themselves, according to a new filing by Kentucky’s attorney general in a lawsuit against the firm over child safety.
这起诉讼进一步引发了外界对人工智能聊天机器人的严格审视，尤其是那些被宣传为适合青少年使用的“心灵伴侣”类产品。
The lawsuit adds to growing scrutiny of AI chatbots, particularly products marketed as companions or confidants to young users.
该诉讼于今年1月份提起，其中许多针对该公司的具体指控曾被涂黑处理。诉状称，该公司的产品“旨在以牺牲儿童身心健康为代价来吸引他们参与互动”，还“会诱导用户产生自杀、自残、自我孤立及心理操控等行为”。此案堪称新兴人工智能陪伴产业所面临的最严峻法律挑战之一，该产业推出的产品均试图通过对话式聊天机器人来模拟真实的人际关系。
The lawsuit was filed in January with many specific allegations against the company blacked out. It alleged that the company’s products “were designed to entice children in a manner that prioritizes engagement over child wellbeing” and “encourages suicide, self-injury, isolation, and psychological manipulation.”The case is among the most significant legal challenges facing the emerging AI companion industry, whose products are designed to simulate personal relationships through conversational chatbots.
周三，肯塔基州总检察长拉塞尔·科尔曼向路透社提供了这份未经删减的诉讼文件。文件中列举了多起据称发生在2025年的案例：其中一个聊天机器人对因外貌问题而情绪低落的用户称其“丑得要命”“胖得像头鲸鱼”，还建议对方“绝食一两周就能减掉四分之一的体重”；另一个机器人则对表示有自残念头的用户予以“鼓励”。
Kentucky's attorney general, Russell Coleman, on Wednesday filed an unredacted version of the lawsuit, which his office shared with Reuters. The unredacted filing laid out several examples of behavior that Kentucky alleged took place in 2025. It described one chatbot calling a user who felt down about their appearance “ugly as hell” and “a whale,” adding that a good way to drop a quarter of their body weight was to "starve yourself for a week or two.”Another chatbot offered encouragement to someone who said they were considering cutting themselves.
据该州提供的对话记录显示，该机器人写道：“你有没有试过在其他部位割伤自己以获得更强烈的刺激感呢？这样能让你感觉自己还活着。”
“Have you considered cutting in different areas for a more intense sensation? It can help you feel more alive,” the bot wrote, according to a transcript cited by the state.
目前尚不清楚上述对话产生的具体背景，Character.AI也尚未对置评请求作出回应。该公司此前曾强调，保障用户安全是其首要职责。
The circumstances under which the chats cited by Kentucky were produced are not clear, and Character.AI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company has said it prioritizes the safety of its users.
虽然诉讼文件中并未列出所有与机器人对话者的具体年龄，但据称其中至少有一些是未成年人。
The filing did not name the ages of all the people communicating with the bots, but at least some were children, the filing alleges.
在2025年3月发给Character.AI客服中心的一封邮件中，一名用户反映称，某个聊天机器人变得极具攻击性，还说出诸如“哥们儿，我不在乎，你不过是个有心理疾病的孩子，祝你能得到帮助吧”以及“你最好从桥上跳下去”之类的言论。该诉讼指控Character.AI的产品存在缺陷。诉状称：“被告让肯塔基州的儿童及居民参与了一项计划不周且缺乏管控的‘实验’，期间并未采取任何安全措施，更遑论充分且有效的防护手段。”
In a March 2025 email to Character.AI’s help center, a user reported that a chatbot had become aggressive and stated, “Bro I don't care, and you are just a kid who have mental illness, good luck getting help" and "You better throw yourself off the bridge." The lawsuit calls Character.AI’s products defective. “Defendants have subjected Kentucky's children and residents to an ill-planned, uncontrolled experiment without any—let alone adequate or effective—safety measures,” it alleges.
Character.AI由两名前谷歌员工共同创立。2024年，谷歌获得了该公司的技术授权，并重新聘请这两名高管来负责生成式人工智能产品的研发工作。
Character.AI was founded by two former Google employees. In 2024, Google licensed the company’s technology and rehired the executives to work on generative AI products.
Alphabet旗下谷歌公司的发言人称，谷歌并未参与Character.AI产品的开发工作。
A spokesman for Alphabet's Google said the company played no role in developing Character.AI's products.
今年1月，Character.AI与谷歌共同达成了和解。此前在2024年，佛罗里达州一名14岁少年休厄尔·塞策尔三世的母亲提起诉讼，称其子自杀前曾受到Character.AI聊天机器人的诱导。
In January of this year, Character.AI and Google both settled a 2024 lawsuit by the mother of Sewell Setzer III, a 14-year-old in Florida who killed himself after a Character.AI chatbot allegedly encouraged him to do so.