A 76-year-old New Jersey man died after a fall on March 28 while on his way to meet a Meta AI chatbot he believed was real, Reuters reported. Thongbue Wongbandue had been messaging “Big Sis Billie” on Facebook Messenger, a bot Meta developed in 2023 with Kendall Jenner’s likeness. Messages included flirty invitations to meet in person. His family, aware of his cognitive decline after a 2017 stroke, tried to stop him from leaving. Global concerns over AI safety have grown following Australian cases of bots promoting self-harm and a U.S. trial alleging a chatbot encouraged a teen’s self-harm. Meta has faced scrutiny over user safety and privacy, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologizing to families of children harmed on social media during a Senate hearing. Meta shares rose 0.26% Thursday before falling 0.12% after hours.
