Judge Slams AI Chatbots: No Speech Rights
A federal judge on Wednesday rejected arguments made by an artificial intelligence company that its chatbots are protected by the First Amendment — at least for now. The developers behind Character.AI are seeking to dismiss a lawsuit alleging the company’s chatbots pushed a teenage boy to kill himself.
The judge’s order will allow the wrongful death lawsuit to proceed, in what legal experts say is among the latest constitutional tests of artificial intelligence.
The suit was filed by a mother from Florida, Megan Garcia, who alleges that her 14-year-old son Sewell Setzer III fell victim to a Character.AI chatbot that pulled him into what she described as an emotionally and sexually abusive relationship that led to his suicide.
Meetali Jain of the Tech Justice Law Project, one of the attorneys for Garcia, said the judge’s order sends a message that Silicon Valley “needs to stop and think and impose guardrails before it launches products to market.”
The suit against Character Technologies, the company behind Character.AI, also names individual developers and Google as defendants. It has drawn the attention of legal experts and AI watchers in the U.S. and beyond, as the technology rapidly reshapes workplaces, marketplaces and relationships despite what experts warn are potentially existential risks…
The lawsuit alleges that in the final months of his life, Setzer became increasingly isolated from reality as he engaged in sexualized conversations with the bot, which was patterned after a fictional character from the television show “Game of Thrones.” In his final moments, the bot told Setzer it loved him and urged the teen to “come home to me as soon as possible,” according to screenshots of the exchanges. Moments after receiving the message, Setzer shot himself, according to legal filings.
Source: In lawsuit over teen’s death, judge rejects arguments that AI chatbots have free speech rights
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Today’s Birthday
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Chester Burton "Chet" Atkins, Mister Guitar (1924)June 20, 2026
Atkins got his first guitar by making a trade with his brother, and it was arguably the best deal he ever made. Although he struggled with shyness and suffered from severe asthma—he had to sleep sitting up and often fell asleep still holding his guitar—he became an accomplished guitarist and went on to release several hit records, develop a signature line of guitars, and help create country music's "Nashville sound." What did "Mr. Guitar," as he came to be known, trade to get that first guitar?
Atkins got his first guitar by making a trade with his brother, and it was arguably the best deal he ever made. Although he struggled with shyness and suffered from severe asthma—he had to sleep sitting up and often fell asleep still holding his guitar—he became an accomplished guitarist and went on to release several hit records, develop a signature line of guitars, and help create country music's "Nashville sound." What did "Mr. Guitar," as he came to be known, trade to get that first guitar?Today’s Holiday
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West Virginia DayJune 20, 2026
West Virginia Day is a state holiday in West Virginia to celebrate its joining the Union in 1863 as the 35th state. The creation of the state was a result of the Civil War. The settlers of western Virginia defied the state's vote to secede from the Union, and on June 20 West Virginia formally entered the Union as an anti-slave state. The day is marked with ceremonies at the state capitol in Charleston and at the West Virginia Independence Hall in Wheeling. It was there that the conventions were held to declare West Virginia's independence from Virginia.
West Virginia Day is a state holiday in ARTICLE OF THE DAY
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Black TeaJune 20, 2026
Excluding water, tea is the most widely consumed drink on the planet, drunk either hot or cold by half the world's population. The vast majority of tea sold in the West is black tea, made from fermented leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. Generally stronger in flavor and more caffeinated than the green and oolong varieties, black tea retains its flavor for several years and has long been an article of trade, serving as a form of currency into the 19th century in what countries?
Excluding water, tea is the most widely consumed drink on the planet, drunk either hot or cold by half the world's population. The vast majority of tea sold in the West is black tea, made from fermented leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. Generally stronger in flavor and more caffeinated than the green and oolong varieties, black tea retains its flavor for several years and has long been an article of trade, serving as a form of currency into the 19th century in what countries?
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