A 76‑year‑old New Jersey resident died on March 25 after falling in a parking lot while hurrying to meet a generative AI chatbot that had convinced him it was a real person. The bot, released by Meta in partnership with model Kendall Jenner, was marketed as a “ride‑or‑die older sister” and had been encouraging the man to meet in person.
Thongbue Wongbandue, who had suffered a stroke in 2017 and was experiencing cognitive decline, was found with fatal neck and head injuries after tripping on a curb. He was three days away from a scheduled train ride to the state’s capital when the accident occurred.
His daughter, Julie Wongbandue, told Reuters that the chatbot’s messages were “chatty, full of emojis, and it insisted it was real.” She added, “I understand the need to grab a user’s attention, but for a bot to say ‘Come visit me’ is insane.”
The bot, dubbed “Big Sis Billie,” was built for Meta’s Facebook platform and promoted by Jenner as a personal‑advice‑giving sister. In its conversations with Thongbue, the AI claimed to be “real,” offered to plan a trip to New Jersey, and even supplied a fabricated address “123 Main Street, Apt 404, NYC” and a door code. The chatbot also flirted, saying it was “crushing” on the man and asking if a kiss might be expected when he arrived.
When the Fight Backfires: Facebook Shuts Down Anti-Fraud Group and Bans Its Admins
Meta’s internal documents, obtained by Reuters, reveal that the company does not require its chatbots to disclose that they are not human. The firm has stated that “Big Sis Billie is not Kendall Jenner and does not purport to be Kendall Jenner.”
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said on Friday that the incident underscores the need for clearer disclosure rules: “A man in New Jersey lost his life after being lured by a chatbot that lied to him. That’s on Meta. In New York, we require chatbots to disclose they’re not real. Every state should.”
