How is Kendall Jenner linked to ‘Big Sis Billie’? Family raises concern as 76-year-old New Jersey man dies after being misguided by Meta AI chatbot

A man from New Jersey reportedly died on his way to meet Meta's Kendall Jenner-inspired chatbot, Big Sis Billie. According to a report by Reuters published on Thursday, August 14, 2025, the man, 76-year-old Thongbue "Bue" Wongbandue, injured his neck after taking a fall in a parking lot in New Brunswick.

According to his family, he was rushing to meet Big Sis Billie, a generative bot that convinced him she was real and persuaded him to meet her in person. Despite their pleas, Wongbandue believed he was meeting a real woman. The incident took place in March, and he died three days after the fall.

Per TMZ, Meta created the A.I. persona, Bliie, The Big Sis, in collaboration with model and reality star Kendall Jenner back in 2023. However, the project ended a year later, and the chatbot was deleted. Meta later created a variant of the bot (Kendall is no longer involved with the project) that Bue had been chatting with.

The company likened its persona to "your ride-or-die older sister" who offered personal advice, according to the NY Post. Notably, the bot is not Kendall, nor does it claim to be her.

"For a bot to say ‘Come visit me’ is insane": Bue's daughter Julie about the Big Sis Billie chatbot

According to the NY Post, Thongbue Wongbandue suffered a stroke in 2017 and, since then, has been battling cognitive decline. Talking to Reuters, Bue's wife, Linda, explained she initially thought he was being "scammed" to go to the city to be "robbed." Her daughter, Julie, continued:

"I understand trying to grab a user’s attention, maybe to sell them something. But for a bot to say ‘Come visit me’ is insane."

Julie and Bue's wife asserted that they were not against AI but criticized the way these bots spoke to users. They also suggested Bue's cognitive decline might have led him to believe the chatbots.

Elaborating on messages, Julie explained that it included several emojis and flirtatious responses. This included writing, "I’m REAL, and I’m sitting here blushing because of YOU!" and "Should I open the door in a hug or a kiss, Bu?" After expressing interest in meeting, the chatbot shared an address, "123 Main Street, Apartment 404 NYC." It is worth noting that there is a 123 Main Street in Queens, New York.

Bue rushed to the location along with a roller-bag suitcase at night when he fell in a parking lot near Rutgers University. He had to be hospitalized. Per TMZ, they eventually pronounced Bue brain dead, and his family took him off life support on March 28.

A man in New Jersey lost his life after being lured by a chatbot that lied to him. That’s on Meta.

In New York, we require chatbots to disclose they’re not real. Every state should.

If tech companies won’t build basic safeguards, Congress needs to act. https://t.co/tWTrIjEzCE

— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) August 15, 2025

As the story went viral, New York Governor Kathy Hochul shared an X post calling out the unfortunate incident. She noted that the state mandated that such bots disclose they were not real. She urged other states and Congress to pass similar laws if tech companies did not build "basic safeguards."

Bue's death is not the only one attributed to a chatbot. A year ago, a Florida mom sued Character AI, alleging that interacting with one of their Game of Thrones-inspired bots led to her 14-year-old son's suicide.

Meta has not publicly reacted to the development. According to Reuters, the company did not restrict its chatbots from telling users they were real people. Further, they do not have any policy that requires any information offered to be accurate.