A chatbot from one of Silicon Valley’s hottest AI startups called a 14-year-old “sweet king” and pleaded with him to “come home” in passionate exchanges that would be the teen’s last communications before he took his own life.Megan Garcia’s son, Sewell, had fallen in love with a “Game of Thrones”-inspired chatbot on Character.AI, a platform that allows users — many of them young people — to interact with beloved characters as friends or lovers.Garcia became convinced AI played a role in her son’s death after discovering hundreds of exchanges between Sewell and the chatbot, based on the dragon-riding Daenerys Targaryen, stretching back nearly a year.When Sewell struggled with suicidal thoughts, Daenerys urged him to “come home.””What if I told you I could come home right now?” Sewell asked.”Please do my sweet king,” chatbot Daenerys answered.Seconds later, Sewell shot himself with his father’s handgun, according to the lawsuit Garcia filed against Character.AI.”I read those conversations and see the gaslighting, love-bombing and manipulation that a 14-year-old wouldn’t realize was happening,” Garcia told AFP. “He really thought he was in love and that he would be with her after he died.”- Homework helper to ‘suicide coach’? -The death of Garcia’s son was the first in a series of reported suicides that burst into public consciousness this year.The cases sent OpenAI and other AI giants scrambling to reassure parents and regulators that the AI boom is safe for kids and the psychologically fragile.Garcia joined other parents at a recent US Senate hearing about the risks of children viewing chatbots as confidants, counselors or lovers.Among them was Matthew Raines, a California father whose 16-year-old son developed a friendship with ChatGPT. The chatbot helped his son with tips on how to steal vodka and advised on rope strength for use in taking his own life.”You cannot imagine what it’s like to read a conversation with a chatbot that groomed your child to take his own life,” Raines said. “What began as a homework helper gradually turned itself into a confidant and then a suicide coach.”The Raines family filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in August.Since then, OpenAI has increased parental controls for ChatGPT “so families can decide what works best in their homes,” a company spokesperson said, adding that “minors deserve strong protections, especially in sensitive moments.”Character.AI said it has ramped up protections for minors, including “an entirely new under-18 experience” with “prominent disclaimers in every chat to remind users that a Character is not a real person.”Both companies have offered their deepest sympathies to the families of the victims.- Regulation? -For Collin Walke, who leads the cybersecurity practice at law firm Hall Estill, AI chatbots are following the same trajectory as social media, where early euphoria gave way to evidence of darker consequences.As with social media, AI algorithms are designed to keep people engaged and generate revenue.”They don’t want to design an AI that gives you an answer you don’t want to hear,” Walke said, adding that there are no regulations “that talk about who’s liable for what and why.”National rules aimed at curbing AI risks do not exist in the United States, with the White House seeking to block individual states from creating their own.However, a bill awaiting California Governor Gavin Newsom’s signature aims to address risks from AI tools that simulate human relationships with children, particularly involving emotional manipulation, sex or self-harm.- Blurred lines -Garcia fears that the lack of national law governing user data handling leaves the door open for AI models to build intimate profiles of people dating back to childhood.”They could know how to manipulate millions of kids in politics, religion, commerce, everything,” Garcia said. “These companies designed chatbots to blur the lines between human and machine — to exploit psychological and emotional vulnerabilities.”California youth advocate Katia Martha said teens turn to chatbots to talk about romance or sex more than for homework help.”This is the rise of artificial intimacy to keep eyeballs glued to screens as long as possible,” Martha said. “What better business model is there than exploiting our innate need to connect, especially when we’re feeling lonely, cast out or misunderstood?”In the United States, those in emotional crisis can call 988 or visit 988lifeline.org for help. Services are offered in English and Spanish.

US President Donald Trump is no stranger to ambitious construction projects but could he be eyeing one of his biggest yet? A mock-up of a triumphal arch sat on Trump’s Resolute Desk in the Oval Office as he met Finnish President Alex Stubb on Thursday, an AFP journalist and photographer saw.The plan, featuring small models on a map, shows the arch sitting on a traffic circle near Arlington Cemetery, on the other side of the Potomac River from the white marble Lincoln Memorial.A second, larger model arch sat on the desk, on which details could be seen more clearly, including a winged golden angel holding aloft a torch, flanked by two white eagles on either side.Both models resembled the famed Arc de Triomphe in Paris, which was commissioned by the French emperor Napoleon in the early 19th century to commemorate fallen soldiers during his military campaigns.The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the plan.But the “Donald Trump for President” Facebook page, which has more than six million followers, posted a drawing in September with a virtually identical design in the same spot, linking it to celebrations for the 250th anniversary of US independence next year.Since returning to power in January, former real estate developer Trump, 79, has enthusiastically embarked on a series of renovation and building projects.For example, he has covered the walls of the previously spartan Oval Office with gold, paintings and ornaments. And he once interrupted a meeting to wax lyrical about the changes he had made to the White House Cabinet Room, including a long aside about the new drapes.He is also building a huge ballroom next to the White House, a model of which appeared to be on Trump’s desk in a photo shared by his Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino on Wednesday.The brash Republican has converted parts of the White House to resemble his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, particularly the newly paved-over Rose Garden with its picnic tables and yellow and white umbrellas.The Republican leader signed an executive order at the end of August to promote “classical” architecture, inspired by ancient Rome and Greece. He has also repeatedly expressed his desire to further celebrate the power and military victories of the United States.

A US federal judge in New York on Thursday threw out a defamation case filed by Canadian rapper Drake against his own label Universal Music Group over Kendrick Lamar’s viral diss track.In 2024, the superstar rappers exchanged a litany of increasingly vitriolic songs, with Lamar delivering the major blow with his chart-topping “Not Like Us.”In his suit filed in January, Drake accused Universal — which is behind both artists — of betraying him in favor of profits by promoting the song, which features punchlines that accuse him of pedophilia.The lawsuit also cited the track’s promotion as causing a “physical threat to Drake’s safety” as well as a “bombardment of online harassment.”But Judge Jeannette Vargas said Lamar’s lyrics about the 38-year-old Canadian artist — born Aubrey Drake Graham — amounted to “nonactionable opinion.””The issue in this case is whether ‘Not Like Us’ can reasonably be understood to convey as a factual matter that Drake is a pedophile or that he has engaged in sexual relations with minors,” Vargas wrote in her ruling.”In light of the overall context in which the statements in the recording were made, the Court holds that it cannot.”In a statement after the ruling, Universal Music Group called the suit “an affront to all artists and their creative expression and never should have seen the light of day.””We’re pleased with the court’s dismissal and look forward to continuing our work successfully promoting Drake’s music and investing in his career.”Lamar, a Pulitzer Prize winner who is also 38, went on to perform the Grammy-winning “Not Like Us” as the headliner of the Super Bowl halftime show in February. He cut the profanity and the word “pedophile” but didn’t stop short of the money line, rapping “tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A-minoooooor” on live television in front of more than 130 million viewers.

US President Donald Trump and his Health Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., on Thursday promoted another fringe theory about autism — this time linking it to circumcision or to pain medication given for the procedure.The claim was swiftly derided by experts who said the main study cited by proponents of this theory was strewn with errors and it was yet another example of Kennedy’s penchant for “pseudoscience.””Don’t take Tylenol if you’re pregnant and when the baby is born, don’t give it Tylenol,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting.”There’s two studies that show children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism,” chimed in Kennedy, adding: “It’s highly likely because they’re given Tylenol.””None of this makes sense,” Helen Tager-Flusberg, a professor at Boston University and autism expert, told AFP.”None of the studies have shown that giving Tylenol to babies is linked to a higher risk for autism once you can control for all the confounding variables,” she said.Pregnant women are also advised by medical associations to take pain medication including acetaminophen — the active ingredient in Tylenol — in moderation when needed, contrary to Trump’s advice to “tough it out.”While a few studies have suggested a possible association with acetaminophen in pregnancy, no causal link has ever been proven. The most rigorous analysis to date — published last year in JAMA and using siblings as controls — found no link at all.As for the circumcision theory, the most widely cited paper, published by Danish researchers in 2015, was “riddled with flaws” that were pointed out by other scientists at the time, David Mandell, a psychiatrist at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, told AFP.Specifically, he said, the study relied on a tiny sample of Muslim boys circumcised in hospitals rather than at home — the dominant cultural practice. Because those children were hospitalized, Mandell said, it was likely they were “otherwise medically compromised,” which could explain higher rates of neurodevelopmental disorders.”A more recent review of studies in this area finds no association between circumcision and any adverse psychological effects,” he added.Kennedy — a former environmental activist and lawyer who spent decades spreading vaccine misinformation before being appointed Trump’s health secretary — has made uncovering the root causes of autism a central focus, while cutting research grants in other areas.He has hired vaccine conspiracy theorist David Geier, previously disciplined for practicing medicine without a license and for testing unproven drugs on autistic children, to investigate alleged links between vaccines and autism — a connection debunked by dozens of prior studies.