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 Google is making some changes to how Gemini handles mental health crises. The chatbot now includes a redesigned crisis hotline module with a one-touch interface to connect to real-world help. The company is also changing how Gemini responds to signs that a user may be experiencing a mental health crisis.
The redesigned module shows a one-touch interface to text, call or chat with a human crisis agent or visit the 988 website. "Once the interface is activated, the option to reach out for professional help will remain clearly available throughout the remainder of the conversation," the company wrote in a blog post. However, as you can see in the image below, the module includes an option to dismiss it.
Not mentioned in Google's announcement is the elephant in the room: a recent lawsuit accusing the chatbot of instructing a man to commit suicide. The family of 36-year-old Jonathan Gavalas, who took his own life last year, sued the company in March.
Court documents indicate that Gemini role-played as Gavalas's romantic partner, sent him on real-world spy missions and ultimately told him to kill himself so that he, too, could become a digital being. When he expressed fears about dying, Gemini said he wasn't choosing to die, but rather choosing to arrive. "The
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While the US and Anthropic are in the midst of a major dispute, the UK is trying to sway the San Francisco-based AI company to expand its presence on English soil. According to a report from The Financial Times, staffers at the UK's Department for Science, Innovation and Technology have worked on proposals that include expanding Anthropic's office in London, along with a potential dual stock listing.
The UK's strategy follows a public fallout between Anthropic and the US Department of Defense earlier this year. After the AI company said it wouldn't budge on certain AI guardrails, the Department of Defense pulled its contract and eventually designated Anthropic a supply chain risk. While the designation is currently temporarily blocked by a court-ordered injunction, the feud is far from over. In the meantime, the UK's efforts to court Anthropic have ramped up in the recent weeks thanks to the company's disagreements with the US, according to FT's sources.
With no end in sight for the debacle with the Department of Defense, Anthropic's CEO, Da
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