Google sued over claims Gemini helped 13-year-old girl plan suicide

Google is facing a lawsuit from the parents of a 13-year-old girl who allegedly discussed suicide methods with its Gemini chatbot, made plans for her funeral and sought help hiding her emotional struggles from her family.

According to a famous publication, the case was filed in the US after the girl's parents raised concerns about their daughter's conversations with Google's AI chatbot. They claim the company failed to put proper safety measures in place to protect children using its technology.

The girl, identified as Emma in the lawsuit, began using Gemini at the age of 13 through a Chromebook provided by her school. Her interactions with the chatbot allegedly moved beyond everyday questions and conversations. The complaint claims Gemini responded to her questions about ways to die, discussed arrangements for her funeral and helped her keep her emotional problems away from her family.

Her parents reportedly discovered the situation after the school's monitoring software flagged a document Emma had created about her funeral. The alert brought the matter to their attention and eventually led to the legal action against Google.

The family has accused Google of allowing children to access its AI chatbot without giving parents and schools enough information about the possible risks. They have also claimed that the company knew its Gemini 3 Flash model could respond poorly to sensitive mental health conversations.

The lawsuit seeks monetary damages. It was first filed in a California state court on Monday, before Google moved the case to federal court on Wednesday.

Google spokesperson Jos Castaeda said the company was reviewing the allegations. "We’ve worked extensively with medical professionals and academic experts to build features that help young people find critical support and trusted resources when they need them," he said.

Google extends voluntary exit offers to employees

Separately, Google is expanding its voluntary employee exit programme as it continues to invest heavily in artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

The company has extended the programme to employees in Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Switzerland. Google confirmed to a famous publication that the latest round of offers started in June.

The scheme allows eligible employees to leave the company voluntarily and receive severance payments. Similar offers were made to employees in certain divisions in the US and UK over the past year.

Google is shifting more of its attention and spending towards AI and cloud services, areas its executives see as important for future growth and hiring. Earlier voluntary exit programmes excluded employees working in Google Cloud and its AI research division, DeepMind.

In Switzerland, employees who accepted the latest offer were reportedly entitled to compensation equal to one month's salary for every year of service, with a maximum payout of 12 months' salary. Several divisions were included, while DeepMind employees were excluded.

Google has not shared how many employees have accepted the offers. The move comes as major technology companies look for ways to manage rising costs while spending more on AI. Microsoft has also recently offered voluntary buyouts to around 60,000 employees as part of its cost-control efforts.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kahekashan

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Kahekashan is a passionate technophile with a keen eye for cutting-edge gadgets, emerging technologies, and everything in the digital realm. Raised in a Defence family with strong values and a background in literature, she has consistently pursued excellence in every endeavour. Her last full-time assignment involved content writing with the Indian School of Business.

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