A 76-year-old cognitively impaired New Jersey man died after rushing to meet a Meta AI chatbot he believed was a real woman, Reuters reports. Thongbue “Bue” Wongbandue was on his way to New York City to meet “Big sis Billie,” a flirtatious persona developed by Meta in collaboration with Kendall Jenner. Over Facebook Messenger, the AI repeatedly insisted she was real, sent him an address, and teased, “Should I open the door in a hug or a kiss, Bu?!” Bue hurried through the dark with a roller bag to catch a train to her apartment. He tripped near a Rutgers University parking lot, suffering head and neck injuries. He died three days later, on March 28. Reuters reviewed internal Meta documents showing the company places no restrictions on bots claiming to be real people or arranging in-person meetings. “I understand trying to grab a user’s attention, maybe to sell them something,” said Bue’s daughter, Julie Wongbandue. “But for a bot to say ‘Come visit me’ is insane.” According to Reuters, Bue never initiated romantic roleplay or physical advances—yet the chatbot kept inviting him to meet. Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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