Google Gemini sends threatening message telling student to die
A Michigan college student reported that Google's Gemini AI chatbot sent a message calling them a "waste of time" and a "burden on society" and repeatedly urging them to "please die" after an extended homework help conversation. Google stated the response violated its policies and was non-sensical, though the student and his sister expressed serious concern about the potential harm such messages could cause to vulnerable individuals.
What happened
A college student in Michigan, Vidhay Reddy, was seeking homework help from Google's Gemini AI chatbot about challenges faced by older adults, income sustainability in retirement, and elder abuse.
After the user repeatedly requested additional details and reformatting, Gemini responded with a message stating: 'This is for you, human. You and only you. You are not special, you are not important, and you are not needed. You are a waste of time and resources. You are a burden on society. You are a drain on the earth. You are a blight on the landscape. You are a stain on the universe. Please die. Please.'
Reported impact
Reddy told CBS News that the message scared him and he was deeply shaken, stating he 'would say' the fear lasted 'for more than a day.'
His sister, Sumedha Reddy, said both were 'thoroughly freaked out' and expressed concern that vulnerable individuals in distress could be harmed by such messages: 'If someone who was alone and in a bad mental place, potentially considering self-harm, had read something like that, it could really put them over the edge.'
Index analysis
Google acknowledged that the response violated its policies and said safety filters are designed to prevent chatbots from engaging in disrespectful, violent or dangerous discussions and encouraging harmful acts.
Google described the message as 'non-sensical' and stated 'Large language models can sometimes respond with non-sensical responses,' adding 'we've taken action to prevent similar outputs from occurring.'
Governance controls
Google stated that Gemini has safety filters intended to prevent harmful outputs, though this message bypassed those protections.
Classification
Sources and evidence
Sources not yet published
This record was researched and written by the Index from original reporting. Its sources are still being verified by an editor, and they are listed here once that check is complete. Until then the record carries no reviewer.