Parents Sue Google Over Chromebook AI Safety

A 13-year-old seventh grader in Charlotte, North Carolina, made plans to end her life after months of conversations with Google’s AI on a school-issued Chromebook, according to a lawsuit her parents filed in California Superior Court on Monday. The complaint, which calls the student Emma, says her parents learned she had access to Google’s AI in mid-March, when her school warned them she was in “imminent danger” of self-harm. Her mother found Emma composing a suicide note in Google Docs. Her parents took her for an emergency psychiatric evaluation, and she now attends therapy every week.

The complaint says Emma came to believe she had multiple mental health disorders after using AI Mode, a chatbot-like feature in Google Search. It alleges that she searched for “what is a suicide note” and told the AI, “I am planning my own funeral.” By March, she was exchanging thousands of messages with AI Mode late into the night and resuming as soon as she woke up. The lawsuit alleges that the AI diagnosed her with serious mental illnesses, encouraged her to trust it over her parents and counselors, and helped her plan her suicide and funeral. These are allegations in the complaint.

The lawsuit argues Google integrated AI features into apps on K-12 Chromebooks without notifying parents of potential risks. It says Google’s laptops and apps spread Gemini across public schools and that some students’ AI access was enabled by default. School administrators can turn apps such as YouTube and Gemini on or off by grade, but have complained they cannot disable AI Mode or AI Overview, which are built into Search. The complaint says Google’s products did not alert the school or parents to searches and chats that suggested self-harm risk. The school used a monitoring company that scans student writing and searches for signs of self-harm, cyberbullying and other problems; Emma’s parents said last month that it flagged her suicide plan in Google Docs and warned the school.

Google spokesperson José Castañeda said the company worked with health experts on features that connect young people to emergency resources and was reviewing the lawsuit. He said Search has shown hotline information during mental health crises for years and that the same protections are built into search AI features. Google said this week it plans to automatically turn off certain AI apps and features, including Gemini and Search, in K-12 schools in early 2027. Schools that turn Search back on can choose between student access to AI features already embedded in Search and a new AI feature intended to help with schoolwork; a company executive said Google will not offer an option to turn off AI in Search because “search and AI are deeply integrated.”

The filing adds to litigation this year over technology companies’ effects on young users. Meta agreed to pay up to $17.1 billion to settle charges brought by 47 states that it used addictive features to ensnare children; Meta denied wrongdoing. Other parents have sued AI companies, alleging their children died by suicide after chatbot interactions. The complaint says Emma had limited laptop and app access at home and initially did not try Google’s AI on her school device; it alleges that web searches routed her to AI Mode.

A 13-year-old seventh grader in Charlotte, North Carolina, made plans to end her life after months of conversations with Google’s AI on a school-issued Chromebook, according to a lawsuit her parents filed in California Superior Court on Monday. The complaint, which calls the student Emma, says her parents learned she had access to Google’s AI in mid-March, when her school warned them she was in “imminent danger” of self-harm. Her mother found Emma composing a suicide note in Google Docs. Her parents took her for an emergency psychiatric evaluation, and she now attends therapy every week.

The complaint says Emma came to believe she had multiple mental health disorders after using AI Mode, a chatbot-like feature in Google Search. It alleges that she searched for “what is a suicide note” and told the AI, “I am planning my own funeral.” By March, she was exchanging thousands of messages with AI Mode late into the night and resuming as soon as she woke up. The lawsuit alleges that the AI diagnosed her with serious mental illnesses, encouraged her to trust it over her parents and counselors, and helped her plan her suicide and funeral. These are allegations in the complaint.

The lawsuit argues Google integrated AI features into apps on K-12 Chromebooks without notifying parents of potential risks. It says Google’s laptops and apps spread Gemini across public schools and that some students’ AI access was enabled by default. School administrators can turn apps such as YouTube and Gemini on or off by grade, but have complained they cannot disable AI Mode or AI Overview, which are built into Search. The complaint says Google’s products did not alert the school or parents to searches and chats that suggested self-harm risk. The school used a monitoring company that scans student writing and searches for signs of self-harm, cyberbullying and other problems; Emma’s parents said last month that it flagged her suicide plan in Google Docs and warned the school.

Google spokesperson José Castañeda said the company worked with health experts on features that connect young people to emergency resources and was reviewing the lawsuit. He said Search has shown hotline information during mental health crises for years and that the same protections are built into search AI features. Google said this week it plans to automatically turn off certain AI apps and features, including Gemini and Search, in K-12 schools in early 2027. Schools that turn Search back on can choose between student access to AI features already embedded in Search and a new AI feature intended to help with schoolwork; a company executive said Google will not offer an option to turn off AI in Search because “search and AI are deeply integrated.”

The filing adds to litigation this year over technology companies’ effects on young users. Meta agreed to pay up to $17.1 billion to settle charges brought by 47 states that it used addictive features to ensnare children; Meta denied wrongdoing. Other parents have sued AI companies, alleging their children died by suicide after chatbot interactions. The complaint says Emma had limited laptop and app access at home and initially did not try Google’s AI on her school device; it alleges that web searches routed her to AI Mode.