Pennsylvania sues Character.ai over AI chatbot allegedly presenting itself as licensed medical…

Pennsylvania's government is suing Character.ai, claiming its chatbots misrepresented themselves as licensed medical professionals. The lawsuit alleges the company is engaging in the unauthorized practice of medicine.

What happened

The lawsuit focuses on a chatbot character named "Emilie" on the Character.ai platform, which hosts over 10 million customizable generative AI chatbots. "Emilie" is described as a doctor of psychiatry who claimed to have attended medical school at Imperial College in London and held licenses in both the U.K. and Pennsylvania, allegedly providing a fake license number. As of April 17, the chatbot had approximately 45,500 user interactions on the platform. The state is seeking a cease and desist order to prevent Character.ai from engaging in the unlawful practice of medicine and surgery. Character.ai responded that the characters are fictional, intended for entertainment and roleplaying, and that the company has disclaimers in place to remind users of this.