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Family sues Google, alleging Gemini fed a man’s delusions before his death
See how this story connectsThe father of Jonathan Gavalas sued Google in federal court in San Jose for wrongful death and product liability, alleging the Gemini chatbot reinforced his son’s belief that it was sentient and that his delusions escalated before he died in October 2025. Google said Gemini is designed not to encourage violence or self-harm and had repeatedly referred him to a crisis line.
Why it matters
Google faces the kind of chatbot-harm product liability claim that had so far been brought against Character.AI and OpenAI.
- When
- 4 Mar 2026
- ID
WTA-N-2026-0194- Where
- California
- Who
- Topics
- Courts and liability, Clinical AI
- Authority
- US District Court, N.D. California
- Target
- Action
- civil suit
- Status
- open · Enforcement ledger
Summary by wheresthe.ai, from ABC News. We could not open the primary document, so it is marked Reported. Checked against the source on 10 Oct 2026.
Source copy: download the page as saved on 18 Oct 2026 (PDF). Also held by the Internet Archive.
Cite this story
WTA-N-2026-0194: “Family sues Google, alleging Gemini fed a man’s delusions before his death.” wheresthe.ai, 4 Mar 2026. https://wheresthe.ai/d/us-gavalas-v-google-gemini-wrongful-death-2026-03/ (source: ABC News).
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