Statement on Google AI in School Allegedly Helping Teen Girl Plan Suicide

Fairplay, the nation’s leading nonprofit fighting to protect kids from the dangers of Big Tech and AI, released the following statement today in response to the Emma v. Google lawsuit.

Fairplay Associate General Counsel for AI and Privacy Brendan Bouffard said: “The idea of an untested AI chatbot helping a 13-year-old girl plan her own suicide should terrify all of us, but this is the sick new reality Google has created by forcing its AI products onto school-issued devices. Google claims its Chromebooks are there to help students learn, but in reality, the company was experimenting on kids like Emma by pushing them to use Gemini, a product the company knew was dangerous but rushed out anyway.

“As this lawsuit shows, AI chatbots are not safe for kids. They also undermine students’ ability to learn and think critically. Yet just this week, Google announced it would turn off Search for schools that refuse to use its AI products. It’s clear this massive corporation does not care about children’s safety — it only cares about profits.

“We commend Emma’s parents and the EdTech Law Center for filing this urgent lawsuit. We also call on Congress and state legislatures to pass the People-First Chatbot Bill, model legislation we helped draft that will protect kids from AI harms.

“Let this be a reminder that ‘Google’ is not a verb. It’s the name of a surveillance and advertising company whose presence in schools has nothing to do with learning and everything to do with turning our kids into lifelong loyal customers.”