AN AI COMPANY based in Menlo Park is banning its chatbots for users under 18 years old following lawsuits against the company, which alleged that its chatbots drove several minors to die by suicide. 

Character.Ai’s new policy, which began rolling out Monday, will no longer allow minors to interact with its open-ended chatbots. 

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Alise is a general assignment reporter with a focus on covering government, elections, housing, crime, courts and entertainment in San Francisco and on the Peninsula. Alise is a Bay Area native from San Carlos. She studied history at University of California, Santa Cruz and first started journalism at Skyline College’s school newspaper in San Bruno. She has interned for Bay City News and for Eesti Rahvusringhääling, or Estonian Public Broadcasting. She has covered everything from the removal of former San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus to the divisive battle over the Great Highway on San Francisco’s west side. Please send her any tips.