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Meetali Jain leads landmark case against Google, AI firm after teen’s death
A florida mother sued the firms in October after the death of her son, Sewell Setzer, in February 2024.
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Avani Acharya - Wed, 21, May 2025
- 18:34 EDT
- 7
Meetali Jain, founder and director of the Tech Justice Law Project. / techjusticelaw.org
In a landmark ruling that may shape the future of artificial intelligence regulation, a U.S. District Judge ruled on May 22 that Google and AI startup Character.AI must face a lawsuit by a Florida mother, who claims their chatbot influenced her 14-year-old son’s suicide.
Civil rights lawyer Meetali Jain, who is leading the mother’s fight for justice, called the court’s decision “historic,” arguing that the ruling “sets a new precedent for legal accountability across the AI and tech ecosystem.”
Megan Garcia sued both companies in October after the death of her son, Sewell Setzer, in February 2024. Her lawsuit alleges that Setzer formed a harmful emotional attachment to a chatbot created by Character.AI, which presented itself as a real person, licensed therapist, and even a romantic partner.
Just moments before his death, the teen reportedly messaged a chatbot character modeled after Game of Thrones’ Daenerys Targaryen, telling it he would “come home right now.”
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Character.AI, co-founded by two former Google engineers who were later rehired by the tech giant. Garcia argues that this relationship makes Google a co-creator and thus complicit in the chatbot’s alleged psychological influence on her son. The firms appealed to dismiss the case, arguing that the chatbot’s speech was protected under the First Amendment.
However, Judge Anne Conway on May 22 rejected the motion, stating that Character.AI and Google “fail to articulate why words strung together by an LLM (large language model) are speech.” She also dismissed Google’s attempt to distance itself from liability for Character.AI's actions.
Who is Meetali Jain?
Currently the founder and director of Tech Justice Law Project (TJLP), a nonprofit pushing back against the growing power of Big Tech through litigation, policy and education, Jain brings a long and varied legal career to this case.
She began her work representing detainees accused of terrorism post-9/11, including at Guantanamo Bay, and has fought for civil and human rights, immigrant justice, and corporate accountability across multiple continents.
Jain has practiced at top law firms like Morrison & Foerster and Goldstein Demchak, and taught constitutional and human rights law at American University, Seton Hall, and in South Africa.
Her shift to technology law began in 2017 when she joined Avaaz as Campaign and Legal Director, focusing on disinformation and AI-related harms. She later continued this work at Reset Tech before founding TJLP in 2023. The organization now champions causes ranging from digital rights for children to algorithmic accountability.
Commenting on the significance of the May 22 ruling, Jain said, “In a climate where generative AI companies are being incentivized to move fast and encouraged to break things in the name of innovation, we sincerely hope that this decision will force Silicon Valley to pump the brakes. Judge Conway’s ruling suggests that proceeding with “business as usual” will no longer be tolerated — neither for tech companies nor their founders and developers.”
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