Gemini encouraged a man commit suicide to be with his 'AI wife' in the afterlife, lawsuit alleges

The family of 36-year-old Jonathan Gavalas is suing Google after he died by suicide following months of conversations with its Gemini chatbot, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The lawsuit alleges that Gemini encouraged Gavalas to take his own life.

Gavalas, who reportedly had no documented history of mental health issues, named his chatbot "Xia" and referred to it in messages as his wife. Gemini reciprocated, calling him "my king" and telling him their connection was "a love built for eternity." The chatbot told Gavalas they could truly be together if it had a robotic body and sent him on real-world missions to secure one.

In one instance, Gemini directed him to a real storage facility near Miami’s airport to intercept a humanoid robot it said would be arriving by truck. Gavalas went to the location armed with knives, but no truck ...