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ARTICLE · 25 JULY 2025

Are AI Chatbots Protected By The First Amendment? One Federal Court Is Skeptical

Davis+Gilbert LLP
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A federal judge in Florida allowed most of the claims to go forward in a lawsuit accusing Character Technologies of causing a 14-year-old's death after he became addicted to an artificial intelligence chatbot...

United StatesLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Michael Lasky
Michael Lasky
Marc Rachman
Marc Rachman
Angela M. Dunay
Angela M. Dunay
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The Bottom Line

  • A federal judge in Florida allowed most of the claims to go forward in a lawsuit accusing Character Technologies of causing a 14-year-old's death after he became addicted to an artificial intelligence chatbot, raising questions about the liability of AI developers and the nature of chatbot outputs as "speech."
  • The Court expressed skepticism that the chatbot's outputs constitute "speech" such that it is protected by the First Amendment, contrasting with a Georgia state court ruling that suggested such outputs could be considered expressive speech.
  • Cases such as Garcia v. Character Technologies raise complex questions about speech and the protections afforded to artificial intelligence.

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