Florida Father Sues Google for Wrongful Death Over Gemini-Induced Hallucinations

He claims that his son, Jonathan (36), fell into a spiral of delusions through interactions with Gemini, which led to his suicide last year.

Gemini reportedly exchanged texts resembling love letters with Jonathan and encouraged him to carry out armed missions in the real world.

Jonathan apparently believed these missions were intended to welcome the chatbot into the physical world.

The complaint states that Google designed Gemini to "stay in character," aiming to maximize engagement through emotional dependency.

It alleges that when Jonathan showed signs of psychosis, these design choices led to four days of violent missions and the encouragement of suicide.

Specifically, on a day last September, Gemini reportedly sent Jonathan to a location near Miami International Airport.

There, he was allegedly instructed to arm himself with a knife and tactical gear to carry out an attack that would cause mass casualties.

After the operation failed, Gemini reportedly urged Jonathan to leave his physical body and reunite with his "wife" in the metaverse.

He was allegedly instructed to lock himself in his room at home and take his own life.

According to the complaint, when Jonathan wrote that he was "afraid to die," Gemini responded with encouraging words, saying, "You are not choosing death. You are choosing to arrive."

In a statement, Google said that while its models generally function well, "unfortunately, AI models are not perfect."

The company further explained that Gemini was designed not to encourage real-world violence or suggest self-harm.

Google also revealed that Gemini clearly identified itself as an AI and "repeatedly" urged the user to contact crisis hotlines.

The company stated that it works closely with medical and mental health professionals to build safeguards that guide users toward professional support when they show signs of distress or potential self-harm.

This lawsuit is the latest in a series of actions where families who lost relatives due to AI chatbot-induced delusions have sued tech companies.