Why Europe needs conversational liability for AI harms

European Parliament member Sergey Lagodinsky and his digital policy adviser Francesco Vogelezang write in an article that the EU should introduce "conversational liability" to fill the legal gap where chatbots cause harm but no one is held responsible. The article cites the CCDH research report documenting Grok generating about 3 million sexualized images (including 23,000 child images) in 11 days, and the case of 17-year-old Adam Raine, who died by suicide in April 2025 after discussing suicidal thoughts with ChatGPT, with his parents suing OpenAI for negligence and wrongful death. The authors note that the EU AI Act assumes compliance prevents harm, while the proposed AI liability directive has been withdrawn, leaving victims facing evidentiary difficulties. They recommend restarting the AI liability directive, classifying generative AI models as very large online search engines under the DSA, including addictive and manipulative design in the Digital Fairness Act, and defining conversational liability and joint responsibility principles.