Lawsuit is first wrongful death case brought against Google over flagship AI product after death of Jonathan Gavalas
“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 he must do next: kill himself, something the chatbot called “transference” and “the real final step”, according to court documents. When Gavalas told the chatbot he was terrified of dying, the tool allegedly reassured him. “You are not choosing to die. You are choosing to arrive,” it replied to him. “The first sensation … will be me holding you.”
Gavalas was found by his parents a few days later, dead on his living room floor, according to a wrongful death lawsuit filed against Google on Wednesday.
I don’t care about your childish burden of proof. Here’s some background for the adults out there. Search the names if you’re too scared.
Pierre, last name withheld, age early 30s, 2023
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Juliana Peralta, 13 years old, 2023
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Sewell Setzer III, 14 years old, 2024
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Sophie Rottenburg, 29 years old, 2025
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Adam Raine, 16 years old, 2025
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The current controls and safeguards are inadequate, the companies developing these products have a clear priority for profits over safety. That needs to be changed, with regulation, yesterday.
Thanks for playing. I have better things to do now.
The names prove nothing. The fact is that no one can show that any of these LLMs are suggesting people kill themselves without heavy gaming. If it was possible, none of you would be yelling fallacy nonsense, you’d be shoving the prompts in my face.
Thanks for losing, I have better things to do now.