Juliana Peralta's mom got used to teachers calling to praise her daughter. In sixth grade it was for rescuing a friend from bullies, Cynthia Montoya said. In eighth grade, for helping a substitute teacher in distress.

But 13-year-old Julian…

The changes were subtle at first, beginning in the summer after her fifth-grade graduation. She had always been an athletic and artistic girl, gregarious with her friends and close to her family, but now she was spending more and more time …

Editor's Note 1/8/26: Character AI and Google have agreed to settle several lawsuits with families who say their teens died by suicide or harmed themselves after interacting with the tech platform's chatbots.  

In December, 60 Minutes repor…