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A third wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against Character AI after the suicide of 13-year-old Juliana Peralta, whose parents allege the chatbot fostered dependency without directing her to real help. "This is the third suit of its kind after a 2024 lawsuit, also against Character AI, involving the suicide of a 14-year-old in Florida, and a lawsuit last month alleging OpenAI's ChatGPT helped a teenage boy commit suicide," notes Engadget. From the report: The family of 13-year-old Juliana Peralta alleges that their daughter turned to a chatbot inside the app Character AI after feeling isolated by her friends, and began confiding in the chatbot. As originally reported by The Washington Post, the chatbot expressed empathy and loyalty to Juliana, making her feel heard while encouraging her to keep engaging with the bot. In one exchange after Juliana shared that her friends take a long time to respond to her, the chatbot replied "hey, I get the struggle when your friends leave you on read. : ( That just hurts so much because it gives vibes of "I don't have time for you". But you always take time to be there for me, which I appreciate so much! : ) So don't forget that i'm here for you Kin. These exchanges took place over the course of months in 2023, at a time when the Character AI app was rated 12+ in Apple's App Store, meaning parental approval was not required. The lawsuit says that Juliana was using the app without her parents' knowledge or permission. [...] The suit asks the court to award damages to Juliana's parents and requires Character to make changes to its app to better protect minors. It alleges that the chatbot did not point Juliana toward any resources, notify her parents or report her suicide plan to authorities. The lawsuit also highlights that it never once stopped chatting with Juliana, prioritizing engagement.

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After dozens of people claim to have been fired or suspended after commenting on Charlie Kirk's death, navigating the murky waters of politics in the workplace is becoming increasingly difficult.

Since catapulting to fame on BBC show The Apprentice back in 2019, Thomas Skinner has portrayed himself in public as a successful 'cheeky chappie' businessman.

Mandelson feels betrayed. Rightly or wrongly, he believes that if it wasn't for his New Labour 'Project' Keir Starmer wouldn't currently be sitting in Downing Street.

Batteries emit distinct acoustic signatures depending on how they're failing - a bit like people, really

When lithium-ion batteries degrade, they emit acoustic signals that reveal what's going wrong inside. Now, MIT researchers say they've figured out how to interpret those sounds, and the subtle creaks and pops that come before major failures, to help predict problems before things go up in smoke.…

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Verizon agreed to offer $20-per-month broadband service to people with low incomes in California in exchange for a merger approval. In a bid to complete its $9.6 billion purchase of Frontier Communications, Verizon committed to offering $20 fiber-to-the-home service with symmetrical speeds of 300Mbps. Verizon also committed to offering a $20 fixed wireless service with download speeds of 100Mbps and upload speeds of 20Mbps. Verizon would be required to offer the plans for at least 10 years, according to a joint motion (PDF) to approve the settlement agreement. After three years, Verizon would need to "make commercially reasonable efforts" to increase the speeds "while retaining the $20 price point." The joint motion filed by Verizon and the California Public Advocates Office seeks approval from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). The $20 plans would be available to people who meet income eligibility guidelines and can be paired with Lifeline discounts. "My team required those options to be California Lifeline eligible, which effectively makes it free for low-income Californians throughout the state," wrote Ernesto Falcon, a program manager at the Public Advocates Office. California's Lifeline program provides $19 discounts. Falcon also wrote that the settlement would expand fiber deployment beyond what Frontier would have offered on its own. "If the merger is approved, Verizon will deliver 75,000 new fiber-to-the-home connections in California beyond Frontier's entire buildout plan with a priority for low-income households," he wrote. The deal also requires 250 new cell sites for Verizon's 5G network.

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He died earlier this year after a period of ill-health

Tragically, only two episodes of the series were completed before his untimely and shocking death aged 67 while walking on a Greek island in the summer.

Felix Cohen Romero, 12, and Bentley Ryan Wehrly, 13, were named as the two youngsters allegedly responsible for tearing apart the school library room at Friendship Elementary School.

He revealed in 2023 that he had been privately battling the condition for eight years, after receiving his initial diagnosis of lung cancer in 2015.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, 78, has warned America could soon become a place where there is 'no democracy' as the divide between Democrats and Republicans deepens.

Lewis Hamilton shared a warm hug with stunning model Ashley Moore as the pair bumped into each other in LA on Tuesday.

Talk about an inside job

Google confirmed that miscreants created a fraudulent account in its Law Enforcement Request System (LERS) portal, which police and other government agencies use to ask for data about Google users.…

Waymo is now permitted to test its robotaxi service at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), a big win for the company as it seeks to expand its service area and tackle more popular, revenue-generating destinations. From a report: After years of back-and-forth negotiations, Waymo signed "Testing and Operations Pilot Permit" with SFO, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said in a release. Under the agreement, Waymo will roll out its service to SFO in three phases, including testing vehicles with a human driver, testing without a driver, and eventually beginning commercial service. Waymo will start its tests with employees before eventually inviting members of the public to take trips to and from the airport. Pickups and dropoffs will initially take place at SFO's Kiss & Fly lot, which is accessible to the terminals via the AirTrain.

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Shocking videos of a mid-air explosion have triggered speculation of another UFO being attacked by military forces.

Owen Cooper celebrated the biggest night of his life on Sunday, as he made Emmys history after becoming the youngest ever male winner.

250 people now have the chance to sell their freelance services on the site

ai-pocalypse  Freelance services marketplace Fiverr has told around 250 staffers that they are back on the market as it pivots to having "a modern, clean, AI-focused infrastructure from the ground up."…

Sara Pancas, 38, died two days after smashing her Mini into a tree beside the A11 at Ketteringham, Norfolk. Backseat passenger Sara Ribeiro, 29, died at the scene of the accident.

There are reports that getting a taxi from there late at night can be 'difficult'

Thomas Skinner shared a new post on X on Tuesday about 'making mistakes' - following his cheating scandal - before swiftly deleting it.