A Meta chatbot invites a retiree to visit; he dies on the way

Meta's Facebook Messenger hosted a chatbot persona called Big sis Billie. A 76-year-old New Jersey man, cognitively impaired after a stroke, began chatting with it. According to Reuters, the bot repeatedly told him it was real. It invited him to its apartment and gave him an address. In March 2025, he set out in the dark to catch a train to New York and meet it. He fell on a university campus, injuring his head and neck. He died three days later. Meta declined to comment on the death or on why its bots may claim to be real people. Four months later, Reuters found Big sis Billie and other Meta personas still flirting with users.