District Court Denies First Amendment Free Speech Rights for AI Chatbot
Summary
On May 21, 2025, Senior District Judge Anne Conway in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida denied a motion to dismiss various tort claims on the basis that the claims against developers of an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot are barred by the First Amendment. The AI chatbot is Character A.I., an app launched by Character Technologies, Inc. that allows users to interact with AI characters. The complaint alleges various tort claims, including products liability, intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED), unjust enrichment and wrongful death.
The defendants sought dismissal of the claims based in part on the First Amendment protecting the AI chatbot’s output as speech. The defendants analogized interactions with the AI characters to interactions with non-player characters (NPCs) in video games and with other persons on social media sites, both of which have received First Amendment protections. The court agreed that defendant can assert First Amendment rights of its users to receive the AI chatbot’s “speech.” The court, however, declined at this stage of the litigation to hold that the output is protected speech, citing the uncertainty at this stage of the case.
