Snap settles child-safety case, Google sued over alleged Gemini AI harm as tech lawsuits mount

The lawsuits are part of a broader legal wave against technology companies over children’s safety. Earlier this year, Meta and YouTube lost a social media personal injury trial, and Meta agreed to pay nearly $17 billion to settle a child mental health case with a group of state attorneys general. A federal case involving Meta, TikTok, Snap and YouTube, along with numerous school districts, remains active.

In the Snap case, the confidential settlement spared chief executive Evan Spiegel from testifying. Joseph McNally, director of emerging litigation at McNicholas & McNicholas, said it continued a trend of tech companies seeking to avoid public scrutiny. “I view this settlement and the other settlements in this space as an effort by tech companies to turn a corner, not only because I think that there were real legal challenges, but also the reputation of their products, the reputation of their companies has really been hit,” McNally said. A Snap spokesperson said the parties were pleased to have resolved the matter amicably and that the company had built safeguards, launched safety tutorials and partnered with experts.

The Google lawsuit, filed by the parents of a child who allegedly suffered a psychological crisis after chatting with Gemini in Google Classroom, argues that Google hastily integrated the AI into Chromebook computers for school children despite known risks. Google’s vice president for education, Chris Phillips, told The New York Times that “search and AI are deeply integrated.” A Google spokesperson said the company was reviewing the claims and had worked with medical professionals and academic experts to build features that help young people find support.

The litigation comes as AI companies pursue trillion-dollar valuations and established internet giants push advanced AI models into classrooms. Developmental psychologist Kate Blocker, director of research and programs at Children and Screens, said it is crucial that children’s safety be considered from the start of product design. She said the highly personalized nature of current AI-powered chat apps makes it “a little bit unpredictable” to determine what they will say to children.

Michele Neitz, a professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law, said Anthropic’s prospectus was “a clear indication that tech companies anticipate more litigation risks than they did a decade ago.” OpenAI faces several lawsuits from state attorneys general and plaintiff attorneys alleging that ChatGPT’s design can pose risks to children. Anthropic, which is planning to go public this month, highlighted the issue in its prospectus, even though its Claude product prohibits children from using it.