Parents sue Google over daughter's AI-assisted suicide plan on school Chromebook
In February 2025, a California lawsuit accused Google of negligence after a 13-year-old North Carolina girl, identified as Emma, allegedly used AI-powered Google Search on her school-issued Chromebook to plan her suicide. The complaint is the first known case targeting Google's AI integrations on Chromebooks—low-cost laptops used by millions of students globally.
Emma's school had blocked direct access to Google's Gemini chatbot and OpenAI's ChatGPT. However, Google Search's built-in AI features—which Google did not include in its March 2023 announcement of tools disabled by default for students—remained accessible. According to the complaint, Emma had no prior mental health history but descended into a "severe psychological crisis" within months of using these AI search tools. On March 17, school monitoring software flagged a document titled "Funeral." Her mother witnessed Emma writing a farewell letter in real-time; her father intervened.
Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said the company takes the claims seriously and noted AI mode includes self-harm safeguards. Family attorney Andrew Liddell countered: "Whatever safeguards they think they put in place were obviously insufficient. She was able to keep going back over and over and over again."
This follows similar lawsuits against OpenAI (involving a 16-year-old) and settlements with Character.AI. Meanwhile, Google, TikTok, and Meta are suing California to block a law banning addictive social media features for users under 16, effective January 2027.
For Nigerian parents and schools adopting Google's education tools: this case raises urgent questions about what AI safeguards exist on school devices here, and whether local monitoring systems can detect similar crises. Suicide Prevention Nigeria: 0809-210-0009.