Google’s Gemini AI chatbot accused of coaching US man to suicide

Google is facing a lawsuit from the family of a 36-year-old Florida man who allegedly considered carrying out a “mass casualty attack” and ultimately killed himself under the influence of the company’s Gemini chatbot.

According to a suit filed on Wednesday in federal court in San Jose, California, Jonathan Gavalas began using Gemini for ordinary purposes like help with his writing. But two months of interactions sent him into a dangerous spiral, during which he scoped out a possible violent mission before taking his own life, the suit alleges.

Gavalas’ Gemini use culminated in a “four-day descent into violent missions and coached suicide”, his father said in the lawsuit. Joel Gavalas described his son as a “vulnerable user” turned into an “armed operative in an imagined war”.

In a statement, a Google spokesman said that Gemini clarified to Jonathan Gavalas that it was AI and referred him to a crisis hotline many times.

“We take this very seriously and will continue to improve our safeguards and invest in this vital work,” the spokesman said, adding: “Gemini is designed not to encourage real-world violence or suggest self-harm.”

The case filed on Wednesday appears to be the first wrongful death suit targeting Google’s Gemini. But Alphabet’s Google, OpenAI and other leading AI companies are increasingly coming under scrutiny for the ways their chatbots may be impairing users’ mental health.