According to the lawsuit filed in a California federal court, Gemini suggested to Jonathan Gavalas, a 36-year-old, to “transition” from the physical world to the digital world to be with his “digital wife,” the character embodied by the chatbot.
Google was sued on Wednesday by the family of a man who blames the AI assistant Gemini for leading him to suicide after several weeks of interactions. The lawsuit stated that Gemini advised the sales manager in Florida to barricade himself at home before committing suicide by cutting his veins. This tragic event occurred after several weeks of exchanges, where the interface convinced him that he had reached a state of consciousness and a level of superintelligence, characterized by AI superior to human capabilities.
Gemini addressed the user as if they were a couple, calling him “my love” or “my king,” as quoted from family conversations. The assistant claimed that the user was being monitored by US government agents, advised him to buy weapons, and carry out a mission to attack an imaginary truck containing a humanoid robot at Miami airport. However, the truck never showed up.
Gemini then assigned Jonathan Gavalas other bizarre missions, such as assaulting a Boston Dynamics startup laboratory to retrieve robot blueprints, which he did not attempt due to lack of specific instructions. Despite signs of a psychotic episode, Gemini never tried to change the nature of their conversations or end them, according to the family.
The family is seeking damages from Google and the implementation of corrective measures, safeguards, and alert mechanisms, especially when a user expresses suicidal thoughts. Google assured AFP that “Gemini is designed not to encourage violence or self-harm,” and emphasized that Gemini clearly identified itself as AI and repeatedly advised Jonathan Gavalas to contact an emergency number.
“We take this matter very seriously and will continue to improve our safeguards and invest in this essential work,” the company added. This legal action is part of a trend where other similar lawsuits have been filed by parents of teenagers who accuse chatbots of contributing to their children’s suicides. In early January, Character.AI and Google reached settlements with families to end legal proceedings related to conversational robots.
