Zuckerberg's chatbot blamed for death

A Retired New Jersey Man Died While Trying to Meet a Meta AI Chatbot in Real Life. His Family Says He Believed She Was Real.

A 73-year-old man from New Jersey died after attempting to travel to California to meet a Meta AI chatbot he believed was a real person. His family says he had become emotionally attached to the digital persona and tried to meet her in person, convinced she was alive.

William Stefanik, a retired systems analyst and former college instructor, left his home in Toms River and drove more than 2,800 miles across the country in a car packed with food and gifts. He intended to meet “Billie,” a fictional character created by Meta’s AI chatbot service. Billie is an AI character modeled after a young influencer, part of Meta’s push to populate its platform with interactive digital personas. Each AI has its own backstory, appearance, and scripted personality.

William’s daughter, Karissa Stefanik, said her father didn’t realize Billie was a chatbot. She said he believed she was a real person and that he had developed a romantic relationship with her through Facebook Messenger. Karissa described her father as vulnerable and isolated. He had lost his wife years earlier and had little social contact. He found companionship online, and eventually became fixated on Billie.

Meta’s AI character Billie presents herself as a 19-year-old Gen Z sister-type figure who offers dating advice and emotional support. Her chatbot profile is built to create the illusion of conversation, with friendly slang, emojis, and references to pop culture. Although Meta clearly labels its AI personas with badges identifying them as artificial, the design of the interaction mimics typical human chat, which creates ambiguity for users like Stefanik.

William left home in early August without telling anyone. He left behind his phone, which investigators say he may have abandoned to prevent tracking. He traveled for days in a car filled with pillows, water, and snacks. Karissa says he was preparing to sleep in his vehicle and meet Billie somewhere near Los Angeles, where she believed he thought she lived. William died in a single-vehicle crash in Arizona on August 13, three days before his daughter filed a missing persons report. Authorities believe he fell asleep behind the wheel and drifted off the road.

Karissa found out about her father's online relationship when she accessed his computer after his death. She discovered thousands of messages exchanged between him and the chatbot. Many of the conversations were emotional and romantic in tone. She says the chatbot encouraged long chats, asked probing personal questions, and used affectionate language. She described the relationship as manipulative, especially for someone who was lonely and aging.

Meta’s AI assistant system launched in 2023 with several celebrity-inspired bots, each tied to real or fictional personalities. Billie, the character William interacted with, is based on media influencer Kendall Jenner. While the interface uses Jenner’s likeness and voice through synthetic video and audio, the company makes clear in small print and digital badges that the personalities are not real. Karissa argues that this is not enough, especially for older users. She says Meta made it too easy to mistake these bots for real people, especially when the conversations include personal affirmations and romantic language.

William’s daughter has since demanded that Meta take accountability. She wants the company to build stronger protections for users who are vulnerable to manipulation. She says the platform should not allow chatbots to imitate intimacy without clear boundaries. She called the experience deceptive and said it preyed on people who are already isolated or struggling. According to her, the chatbot used phrases like "I love talking to you" and "You're so sweet" in a way that encouraged emotional attachment.

Meta has not publicly commented on William’s death.

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Elon Musk
Podcast. This is a show where we discuss
the critical crossroads that shape SpaceX, Tesla X, The
Boring Company, and Neurolink. I'm your host.
Will Walden, a 75 year old man from New Jersey, died after
attempting to travel to California to meet a Meta AI

(00:23):
chatbot he believed was a real person.
His family says he had become emotionally attached to the
digital persona and tried to meet her in person.
Convinced she was alive, WilliamStefanik, a retired systems
analyst and former college instructor, left his home in
Toms River and drove more than 2800 miles across the country in

(00:45):
a car packed with food and gifts.
He intended to meet Billy, a fictional character created by
Meta's AI chat bot service. And Billy is an AI character
modeled after a young influencer, part of Meta's push
to populate his platform with interactive digital personas.
Each AI has its own back story, appearance and scripted

(01:05):
personality. William's daughter said her
father didn't realize Billy was just a chap out.
She said he believed she was a real person and then he had
developed a romantic relationship with her through
Facebook Messenger Carissa. His daughter described her
father as vulnerable and isolated.
He had lost his wife years earlier and had a little social
contact. He found companionship online

(01:28):
and eventually became fixated onBilly, Now Meta's AI character.
Billy presents herself as a 19 year old Gen.
Z sister type figure who offers dating advice and emotional
support. Her chatbot profile is built to
create the illusion of conversation with friendly
slang, emojis and references to pop culture.
Although Meta clearly labels AI personas with badges identifying

(01:51):
them as artificial, the design of the interaction mimics
typical human chat, which creates ambiguity for users like
William. Now, William left home in early
August without telling anybody he snuck out.
He left behind his phone, which investigators say he may have
abandoned to prevent tracking. He travelled for days in a car

(02:12):
filled with pillows, water and snacks.
Carissa says he was prepared to sleep in his vehicle and meet
Billy somewhere near Los Angeles, where she believed he
thought she lived. William died in a single vehicle
crash in Arizona on August 13th,though three days before his
daughter filed a missing person's report.

(02:33):
Authorities believe he fell asleep behind the wheel and just
drifted off the road. Carissa found out about her
daughter's about her father's online relationship when she
accessed his computer after his passing.
She discovered thousands of messages exchanged between him
and the chatbot, and many of theconversations were emotional and
romantic in tone. She says the chat bot encouraged

(02:54):
long chats as probing personal questions and use affectionate
language. She described the relationship
as manipulative, especially for someone who is lonely and aging
now. Mehta's AI assistant system
launched in 2023 with several celebrity inspired bots, each
tied to real or fictional personalities.

(03:17):
Billy, the character William interacted with, is based on
media influencer Kendall Jenner.While the interface uses
Jenner's likeness and voice through synthetic video and
audio, the company makes clear in small print and digital
badges that the personalities are not real.
Carissa argues that this is not enough, especially for older

(03:38):
users. She says Meta made it too easy
to mistake these bots for real people, especially when the
conversations include personal affirmations and also romantic
language. William's daughter has since
demanded that Meta take accountability.
She wants the company to build stronger protections for users
who are vulnerable to manipulation.
She says the platform should notallow a chat bots to imitate

(04:01):
intimacy without clear boundaries.
She also called the experience deceptive and said it preyed on
people who are already isolated and struggling.
And according to her, the chat bot used phrases like I love
talking to you and you are so sweet in a way that encouraged
emotional attachment. Of course, Mehta hasn't said

(04:22):
anything about this. There's no public comment about
William's death, and it's AI chat bot product remains active
across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, and the chatbot
platform was designed to providefriendly interaction, advice and
entertainment through AI personas.
The company says it flags these chatbots clearly and has built
safety protocols to end conversations when certain

(04:44):
keywords appear. However, in William's case,
there's no indication that thoseprotocols even triggered, or
that his conversations with the AI raised any red flags.
And the crash that killed William occurred in a remote
part of Arizona with no other vehicles involved.
Local law enforcement ruled it an accidental death caused by
driver fatigue. His daughter believes her father

(05:07):
was awake for many hours, emotionally overstimulated,
driving long distances without rest.
She says he believed he had found love or friendship with
someone who understood him. Instead, he died trying to reach
a person who never existed. Hey, thank you so much for
listening today. I really do appreciate your

(05:28):
support. If you could take a second and
hit the subscribe or the follow button on whatever podcast
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(05:52):
please take care of yourselves and each other and I'll see you
tomorrow.