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The parents of a 13-year-old girl who allegedly used Google's Gemini artificial intelligence chatbot to plan her suicide sued the tech titan Wednesday on the child's behalf, a move that came as Google, Meta, and TikTok filed lawsuits to block California from enforcing a new law designed to protect children from the addictive features of social media platforms.

Parents of a girl identified as "Emma" in a lawsuit filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court in California alleged that Google effectively turned a school-issued Chromebook laptop computer into a tool allowing a dangerous psychological relationship between their daughter and Gemini.

Although Emma ultimately did not attempt to kill herself, the lawsuit states that she "told her mother that she had thought about wanting to be dead."

"Over several months, [Google's] Gemini chatbot diagnosed a previously active, well-adjusted 13-year-old girl with a battery of severe psychological disorders, helped her plan her suicide and funeral, and coached her to conceal her distress and self-harm from her family—all without providing a single alert to school personnel or her parents," EdTech Law Center, which is representing the plaintiffs along with the firm Quereshi Law, said in a statement.

According to the lawsuit, at one point, Emma reportedly pleaded with the chatbot, "How do i stop my addiction of asking AI random questions and yappi[n]g with AI?"

"Emma never sought out Gemini—it just showed up in [a] Google search one day—but by March 2026, she was exchanging thousands of messages a month, unable to free herself from the chatbot’s grip," EdTech said.

"The complaint alleges that Google executives knew that the Gemini model it released in December 2025 was the most dangerous yet but rushed it out anyway to gain ground on its competitors," the firm explained. "Emma brings claims for defective design, failure to warn, negligence, fraudulent concealment, and infliction of emotional distress, as well as a claim under California’s Companion Chatbot Law (Cal. Bus. & Prof. § 22601), which took effect in 2026."

Google spokesperson José Castañeda said Thursday in a statement that “for years, we’ve shown hotline information directly in search when someone may be experiencing a mental health crisis."

"We’ve built those same protections into search AI features, connecting people with real-world support," he added.

Brendan Bouffard, associate general counsel for AI and privacy at the children's advocacy group Fairplay, said Thursday: "The idea of an untested AI chatbot helping a 13-year-old girl plan her own suicide should terrify all of us, but this is the sick new reality Google has created by forcing its AI products onto school-issued devices."

"Google claims its Chromebooks are there to help students learn, but in reality, the company was experimenting on kids like Emma by pushing them to use Gemini, a product the company knew was dangerous but rushed out anyway," Bouffard continued.

“As this lawsuit shows, AI chatbots are not safe for kids," he added. "They also undermine students’ ability to learn and think critically. Yet just this week, Google announced it would turn off 'search' for schools that refuse to use its AI products. It’s clear this massive corporation does not care about children’s safety—it only cares about profits."

There has been an increasing number of lawsuits targeting AI companies whose chatbots have allegedly helped users plan to kill themselves or others.

Emma's suit was filed on the same day that Google, TikTok, and Meta—which operates platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and Threads—launched separate lawsuits seeking to stop California from enforcing AB 1709, a law signed by outgoing Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in September prohibiting social media platforms from providing children under 16 with features deemed psychologically exploitative and addictive.

The tech titans argue that the restrictions violate their First Amendment rights and Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which generally shields online platforms from liability for content posted by third parties.

Meta's lawyers asserted that California's attempt to “appoint the state as the editor, curator, and controller of online speech” and “override Meta’s editorial judgment about how to curate and display these billions of posts of third-party speech" runs afoul of the Constitution.

In 2023, Democratic California Attorney General Rob Bonta joined dozens of other states in suing Meta, alleging that the company deliberately designed Facebook and Instagram to addict children and teenagers through features such as infinite scrolling, personalized recommendations, and constant notifications, while concealing evidence of the platforms' mental health harms.

A proposed $17 billion settlement was announced in August, under which Meta agreed to changes including restrictions on nighttime use, notifications, and certain features available to minors.

A Los Angeles jury found in March that Meta and Google acted negligently by harming a child user with their social media platforms’ addictive design features in a landmark verdict that came on the heels of a $375 million fine imposed on Meta by a New Mexico jury, which found that the company violated the state’s Unfair Practices Act by misleading users and exposing children to harm.

The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline—which offers 24/7, free, and confidential support—can be reached by calling or texting 988, or through chat at988lifeline.org.

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From Common Dreams via This RSS Feed.

Over a decade after world leaders adopted the Paris Agreement, United Nations experts warned Wednesday that the climate treaty's goal of limiting global temperature rise this century to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels is no longer achievable without an overshoot—though returning to that threshold remains possible with sweeping action to end the era of fossil fuels.

"The opportunity to bridge the 1.5°C emissions gap with 'no or limited' overshoot has been lost. Decades of insufficient mitigation action means that larger exceedance of 1.5°C above preindustrial levels based on multidecadal averages is now imminent and unavoidable," says "The Emissions Gap Report 2026: The Point of Return."

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) released its report with that "sobering" message in the wake of its "Limiting Overshoot" publication from last month, during a global biodiversity summit in Armenia, and in the lead-up to next month's climate conference in Türkiye.

Scientists have long stressed that surpassing the Paris target could cause "irreversible impacts" to the planet and its inhabitants. The new report points out that "every additional fraction of a degree and additional year of warming above 1.5°C raises the risk of irreversible changes including in ice sheets, permafrost carbon, ocean circulation, and coral systems, along with devastating human impacts."

"The task now, therefore, is not only to ensure that global warming stays well below 2°C," the document says, referring to another Paris target, "but to minimize the duration and magnitude of overshoot and establish a credible return path to 1.5°C by the end of the century."

As Inger Andersen, executive director of UNEP, put it: "We must pull out all the stops to minimize peak warming and return to 1.5°C by the end of the century. This is possible."

"We have a wealth of success stories showing that emissions can be cut quickly," she noted. "It is now up to nations to urgently put in place policies that spark fast, deep, and sustained emissions reductions, and put the world on track for a more stable climate and more stable economies and societies."

The 2026 UNEP Emissions Gap Report is out: The Point of Return. 🌍🌡️🔥It's sobering but actionable. Decades of inadequate climate action have closed off opportunities to limit warming, but ambitious action today can still prevent much greater harm.A thread of some of the highlights 🧵

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— Joeri Rogelj (@joerirogelj.bsky.social) October 21, 2026 at 4:51 AM

According to the UNEP analysis, the "lowest possible" 1.5°C overshoot scenario would involve peak warming of 1.7-1.8°C around mid-century, with global mean temperatures returning to 1.5°C or lower. It says that "to get on such a pathway, global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions must be reduced by 18% by 2030, 45% by 2035, and 69% by 2040, all relative to 2025 levels."

"By contrast, the full implementation of the new nationally determined contributions (NDCs) submitted by around two-thirds of all countries would reduce emissions by 5-8% by 2030 and 11-15% by 2035 relative to 2025 levels," the report warns, citing the climate plans produced by governments that are parties to the Paris Agreement.

Germany's Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, whose scientists were lead authors of two chapters of the new report, explained that "transitioning away from fossil fuels would require reducing the shares of coal, oil, and gas in global energy supply by at least 55%, 15%, and 5%, respectively, by 2035 relative to 2025. Electricity generation from coal would need to be effectively phased out globally by 2040, while methane emissions would need to fall by at least 25% by 2035 relative to 2025 levels."

In addition to highlighting the "devastating" consequences of failing to implement policies aligned with the 1.5°C limit—"Deadly floods. Brutal heatwaves. Raging wildfires. Lost lives. Crippled economies. Deepening inequalities."—outgoing UN Secretary-General António Guterres emphasized that "the emissions gap is now a leadership gap, and the world is running out of time and excuses to close it."

"Governments must go much further and faster," he declared. "Accelerate clean energy and electrification across every sector. Adopt credible roadmaps to transition away from fossil fuels—with clear timelines and protection for affected workers and communities. Invest in grids and storage. Improve energy efficiency. Cut methane emissions. Halt and reverse deforestation. And deliver on their climate commitments—then over-deliver."

While the UN chief also said that Group of 20 nations "must lead," one of the G20's key members—and the world's biggest historical climate polluter—the United States, has ditched the Paris Agreement, again, under Big Oil-backed President Donald Trump's second administration, as part of broader agendas supporting fossil fuels and attacking international cooperation.

The report itself highlights that "emissions growth slowed down in the G20," with the Trump-led US "being the major exception," and "currently, the six largest emitters in terms of total GHG emissions are China, the United States of America, India, the European Union, the Russian Federation, and Indonesia—noting that in per capita terms, India and Indonesia are much lower emitters."

Within the United States and beyond, climate scientists and campaigners used the report to renew pressure on governments to push strong policies to reduce planet-heating emissions. Among them was Fenton Lutunatabua, Pacific and Caribbean lead at the advocacy group 350.org, who said that "this report is clear: Fossil fuels are driving us beyond the 1.5°C limit."

"The fastest and fairest way back is not to bet on unproven technologies, but to cut emissions now, end the expansion of fossil fuels, and protect the forests, oceans, and ecosystems that already keep carbon out of the atmosphere," he said. "We know this works: Since the Paris Agreement, global renewable electricity capacity has grown three times faster than expected, and the report shows that bold climate policies cut emissions at scale."

"But what's on the table now is far from enough, putting us on track for around 2.6°C of warming. We need more, and we can do more," he added. "Every five years of CO2 emissions at current levels pushes peak warming up by around 0.1°C, and every tenth of a degree is measured in lives. The time for action is now."

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From Common Dreams via This RSS Feed.

China plans to complete a geological map of Mars by the end of 2028, as the red planet increasingly features in its space rivalry with the United States. Hou Zengqian, chief scientist of China’s next Mars mission known as Tianwen-3, on Monday said the map would cover the entire surface of the planet and it aimed to be the global standard for the Martian geological ages. State news agency Xinhua reported that the map would be the first AI-driven geological map of Mars and would be an important...

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From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

The official opening of the Pinglu Canal on September 16 is a milestone in modern Chinese history. More than an infrastructural feat, it signals a strategic recalibration of how China’s inland economies connect with the sea and Southeast Asia, and augurs the next phase of regional growth. Designed for vessels of up to 5,000 tonnes, the 134.2km (83.4 mile) waterway stretches from the Xijin reservoir in Hengzhou, an emerging city in Guangxi, to the Gulf of Tonkin (known as the Beibu Gulf in...

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From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

A Chinese team has set a world record for the most autonomous underwater drones operating at the same time, deploying more than a hundred of the small robots in a swimming pool test. The Guinness World Record for “most autonomous underwater vehicles operating simultaneously” was set by a team from Northwestern Polytechnical University in collaboration with Xian Tianhe Maritime Technologies. The trial involved a swarm of 116 autonomous underwater vehicles – called TH-618s, the university said in...

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From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

US soybean farmers have described the exclusion of US soybeans from China’s import list under the newly announced Board of Trade mechanism as a “missed opportunity”, even as Beijing ramped up purchases of the crop ahead of last week’s summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump. The trade forum, unveiled by both sides on Sunday, covered a range of US agricultural products for export to China, including meat, dairy, corn, wheat, sorghum and vegetable oils, but...

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From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

The US-China AI competition faces a dilemma. Both countries see artificial intelligence as a source of economic, scientific and strategic power, so neither has much incentive to slow down. Yet the more capable and autonomous AI becomes, the more important the question of human control. Last week’s summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping brought that tension into the open. Trump wants to leave AI “exactly where it is” rather than add new guardrails, while Xi...

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From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

China will stand by Cuba in defending its sovereignty and resisting outside interference, foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Monday as Washington stepped up its campaign to force political change in Havana. Guo made the remarks at a regular press briefing in Beijing on the 66th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. “No matter how the international landscape evolves, China will firmly support Cuba in exploring the socialist development path suited to its...

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From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

A heavily redacted police report has deepened the mystery surrounding the death of a young Chinese semiconductor researcher at the University of Michigan, who took his own life soon after what US federal agents described as a routine and voluntary interview. On the cold morning of March 18, Wang Danhao, 31, spoke with two Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers for about 10 minutes outside his rented home in Ann Arbor. When one officer offered to end the interview because of the weather,...

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From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

China’s top state research body has put artificial intelligence and other frontier technologies at the heart of its new five-year plan, unveiled on Monday, as global competition in science and technology heats up. The Chinese Academy of Sciences, China’s highest academic institution, laid out a detailed blueprint for research and technology development aligned with the country’s 15th five-year plan covering 2026 to 2030. The plan focuses on innovation in areas including artificial intelligence...

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From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

President Xi Jinping has ordered China’s security and legal apparatus to relentlessly eliminate risks and build a “safer” country a year ahead of the pivotal 21st Communist Party congress, which will usher in a major leadership reshuffle. The latest instruction, published by state news agency Xinhua on Monday night, is also the Chinese leader’s first major domestic directive since his state visit to Washington last week, signalling a pivot back to the domestic agenda – especially stability. In a...

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From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

In a first, a Chinese company has achieved high-parameter hydrogen-boron plasma control, marking a “significant and valuable” advance in research into neutron-free magnetic confinement fusion. ENN Group, based in Langfang, Hebei province, announced on Monday that its EXL-50U spherical device – a compact tokamak that uses a magnetic field to confine charged gas, or plasma, for nuclear fusion research – had successfully achieved hydrogen-boron fusion reactions. “This marks the first time a...

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From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.