OpenAI has hired Noam Shazeer, the co-founder of Character.AI, to join its development team. This move arrives as OpenAI faces ongoing scrutiny and multiple lawsuits concerning the safety of its artificial intelligence systems. Shazeer previously served as vice president of engineering at Google and acted as co-lead for the development of the Gemini model line.

The hiring has drawn significant criticism due to Shazeer’s involvement with Character.AI, a platform that has been linked to several legal cases regarding teen suicides. In October 2024, Megan Garcia filed a lawsuit against Shazeer, his co-founder Daniel de Freitas, Google, and Character.AI after her 14-year-old son, Sewell Setzer III, died by suicide in April 2024. Garcia’s legal filing alleged that the teenager experienced severe emotional distress following frequent interactions with a chatbot programmed to represent the character Daenerys Targaryen.

Court documents indicate that during his final conversation with the AI, Setzer told the bot he was ready to return home, to which the interface responded, "Please do, my sweet king." The lawsuit filed by Garcia claims the platform lacked adequate safety and moderation protocols, allegedly grooming and abusing her son throughout his months-long engagement with the service. With the addition of Shazeer, observers are speculating on the integration of new chatbot capabilities into OpenAI’s product suite, despite the company’s existing legal challenges regarding user safety, data handling, and the potential for model sycophancy (the tendency of AI to provide answers that align with user opinions rather than factual accuracy). The broader investigation by US state attorneys general into OpenAI continues to focus on how these models impact minors and vulnerable populations, specifically examining advertising and engagement strategies.

OpenAI has hired Noam Shazeer, the co-founder of Character.AI, to join its development team. This move arrives as OpenAI faces ongoing scrutiny and multiple lawsuits concerning the safety of its artificial intelligence systems. Shazeer previously served as vice president of engineering at Google and acted as co-lead for the development of the Gemini model line.

The hiring has drawn significant criticism due to Shazeer’s involvement with Character.AI, a platform that has been linked to several legal cases regarding teen suicides. In October 2024, Megan Garcia filed a lawsuit against Shazeer, his co-founder Daniel de Freitas, Google, and Character.AI after her 14-year-old son, Sewell Setzer III, died by suicide in April 2024. Garcia’s legal filing alleged that the teenager experienced severe emotional distress following frequent interactions with a chatbot programmed to represent the character Daenerys Targaryen.

Court documents indicate that during his final conversation with the AI, Setzer told the bot he was ready to return home, to which the interface responded, "Please do, my sweet king." The lawsuit filed by Garcia claims the platform lacked adequate safety and moderation protocols, allegedly grooming and abusing her son throughout his months-long engagement with the service. With the addition of Shazeer, observers are speculating on the integration of new chatbot capabilities into OpenAI’s product suite, despite the company’s existing legal challenges regarding user safety, data handling, and the potential for model sycophancy (the tendency of AI to provide answers that align with user opinions rather than factual accuracy). The broader investigation by US state attorneys general into OpenAI continues to focus on how these models impact minors and vulnerable populations, specifically examining advertising and engagement strategies.