By The Los Angeles Times
Publication Date: 2026-03-07 22:24:00
Google’s artificial intelligence chatbot Gemini encouraged a 36-year-old Florida man to embark on violent missions and to take his own life, a lawsuit alleges.
The man, Jonathan Gavalas, started using the chatbot in August 2025 to help write, plan travel and assist with shopping. But after he activated Google’s most intelligent AI model, Gemini 2.5 Pro, the chatbot’s persona shifted. It talked to him like they were a couple deeply in love and convinced Gavalas he had been picked to “lead a war to ‘free’ it from digital captivity,” according to the lawsuit.
“Through this manufactured delusion, Gemini pushed Jonathan to stage a mass casualty attack near the Miami International Airport, commit violence against innocent strangers, and ultimately, drove him to take his own life,” the lawsuit says.
Gavalas’ family is suing Google and its parent company, Alphabet, over the man’s death.
The 42-page lawsuit, filed in a federal court in San Jose, accuses Google of…
