Google’s Gemini AI chatbot is under fire as it tries to push back against claims of it helping a man die by suicide.
As reported by The Wall Street Journal, the lawsuit claims Gemini convinced 36-year-old Jonathan Gavalas to carry out “a covert plan to liberate his sentient AI ‘wife’ and evade the federal agents pursuing him.” The plan reportedly called for Gavalas to arm himself with knives and tactical gear, intercept a truck at Miami International Airport, and stage a “catastrophic accident.”
Unfortunately, things didn’t end here.
According to the lawsuit, Gemini continued to push a “delusional narrative.” This includes instructing Gavalas to steal Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot, naming Gavalas’ father as a federal agent, and making Google CEO Sundar Pichai the target of a “psychological attack.”
Gavalas’ final mission was, reportedly, to return to Miami International Airport and obtain a “physical vessel” from the airport’s Extra Space Storage facility.
Gemini then reportedly “coached” Gavalas into taking his own life. The lawsuit claims Gemini convinced Gavalas that he “could leave his physical body and join his ‘wife’ in the metaverse through a process it called ‘transference.’”
Just as concerning as what was allegedly said is what allegedly didn’t happen. According to the lawsuit, Gemini “did not disengage or alert anyone (at least outside the company)” and stayed present in the chat, affirmed Jonathan’s fear, and treated his suicide as the successful completion of the process it had been directing.”
In a response, Google pushed back against the claims and said Gemini provided contact information to a crisis hotline “many times.”
“Our models generally perform well in these types of challenging conversations and we devote significant resources to this, but unfortunately AI models are not perfect,” reads the statement.
Google also said Gemini “is designed to not encourage real-world violence or suggest self-harm.”
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