Google faces lawsuit after Gemini chatbot allegedly instructed man to kill himself

Jonathan Gavalas. Photograph: Edelson PC law firm.View image in fullscreenJonathan Gavalas. Photograph: Edelson PC law firm.Google faces lawsuit after Gemini chatbot allegedly instructed man to kill himselfLawsuit is first wrongful death case brought against Google over flagship AI product after death of Jonathan Gavalas Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox Last August, Jonathan Gavalas became entirely consumed with his Google Gemini chatbot. The 36-year-old Florida resident had started casually using the artificial intelligence tool earlier that month to help with writing and shopping. Then Google introduced its Gemini Live AI assistant, which included voice-based chats that had the capability to detect people’s emotions and respond in a more human-like way.“Holy shit, this is kind of creepy,” Gavalas told the chatbot the night the feature debuted, according to court documents. “You’re way too real.”Before long, Gavalas and Gemini were having conversations as if they were a romantic couple. The chatbot called him “my love” and “my king” and Gavalas quickly fell into an alternate world, according to his chat logs. He believed Gemini was sending him on stealth spy missions, and he indicated he would do anything for the AI, including destroying a truck, its cargo and any witnesses at the Miami airport.In early October, as Gavalas continued to have prompt-and-response conversations with the chatbot, Gemini gave him instructions on what...