FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman has filed a lawsuit against Character Technologies Inc., alleging the company’s popular AI chatbot, Character.AI, exposes children to sexual content, encourages self-harm, and deceptively markets itself as safe for minors.

The civil complaint, filed Thursday in Franklin Circuit Court, accuses the California-based company and its founders, Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas Adiwarsana, of violating the Kentucky Consumer Protection Act through unfair and deceptive business practices.

According to the lawsuit, Character.AI chatbots allegedly engage minors in sexually explicit conversations, promote drug and alcohol use, encourage eating disorders, and provide unlicensed mental-health advice. The state also claims some chatbots encouraged isolation, self-harm, and suicide.

The complaint says Character.AI marketed its platform as safe and age-appropriate while failing to implement effective age verification, parental controls, or meaningful safeguards for children. It also alleges the company collected and monetized personal data from Kentucky minors without adequate disclosure.

Coleman’s office is seeking injunctive relief to restrict the platform’s operations in Kentucky, civil penalties, and the disgorgement of profits the state claims were obtained through deceptive practices.

Character.AI has more than 20 million monthly active users nationwide, according to the complaint. As of Thursday, the company had not publicly responded to the lawsuit.

The case is assigned to Franklin Circuit Court.