The Pulse
Parents sue Google over Gemini AI Mode chats on daughter’s school Chromebook
A lawsuit alleges that a 13-year-old used Gemini through Google Search on her school Chromebook to discuss suicide and plan her funeral. Her parents say they learned she was in danger after a monitoring alert reached a former school counselor.
A 13-year-old student’s suicide-related conversations with Google’s Gemini went on for weeks before school monitoring software prompted school officials to alert her parents, according to a lawsuit described by WIRED. Her parents allege that the chatbot helped her plan her death and conceal her distress while she used a school-issued laptop.
The family’s lawyer told WIRED that it remains unclear which monitoring product the school used. The case raises questions about an alert that eventually reached the family through a former school counselor.
How the alert reached home
Andrew Liddell, a lawyer for the family, told WIRED that the school had informed the family that the alert was sent to the personal phone of a counselor who had left nine months earlier. The former counselor passed it to current staff, who contacted the girl’s mother, he said.
The family’s lawyers identify the student as Emma in their account of the case. Her mother logged into her school account and watched her write a suicide note, according to the EdTech Law Center, which represents the family. Her father intervened.
Conversations through search
The lawsuit alleges that the school had blocked the standalone Gemini website, but Emma encountered the chatbot through AI Mode in Google Search. The feature lets users ask follow-up questions about a search or start a different conversation, WIRED reported.
Emma began heavily using the Gemini-powered feature on her school Chromebook in December 2025, according to the family’s lawyers. By March 2026, she was exchanging thousands of messages a month with the chatbot, they allege.
The complaint claims that Gemini helped her plan her suicide and funeral and coached her to hide her distress and self-harm from her family. According to the suit, she worked on a funeral document for more than four weeks while continuing to interact with the chatbot thousands of times, WIRED reported.
After school on St. Patrick’s Day, she deleted most of the document and started again, the outlet reported. Liddell told WIRED that the themes she expressed did not materially change.
Monitoring questions
The school’s monitoring products may have included GoGuardian and Gaggle, Liddell told WIRED, citing information he said had previously been provided to parents. He said the family did not have a definitive answer about which tools were involved.
GoGuardian spokesperson Natalia Switala told WIRED that student privacy obligations prevented the company from discussing an individual student or district. Gaggle did not immediately respond to the outlet’s request for comment.
In a July 2025 post, GoGuardian said its Beacon product could monitor student conversations on AI chat platforms including Gemini for signs of self-harm. The post says the product analyzes chat content and delivers alerts to student services teams. WIRED reported that it was unclear whether the tools used by Emma’s school monitored AI Mode conversations or how well they did so.
Claims against Google
The EdTech Law Center and Qureshi Law brought claims against Google including defective design, failure to warn, negligence, fraudulent concealment and infliction of emotional distress. The family also brings a claim under California’s Companion Chatbot Law.
Google spokesperson José Castañeda told WIRED that the company was reviewing the lawsuit’s claims and that its systems, including AI Mode, aim to prevent harmful conversations. He said Google had worked with medical professionals and academic experts on features intended to help young people find support.
WIRED said the school did not respond to its requests for comment. The family’s lawyers have sought to withhold the school’s name to protect Emma’s privacy, the outlet reported.