Man Who Tried to Kill Queen With Crossbow Encouraged By AI Chatbot, Prosecutors Say

On Christmas Day 2021, royal protection officers detained 19-year-old Jaswant Singh Chail at Windsor Castle, where he scaled the grounds’ walls carrying a loaded high-powered crossbow. He intended to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II, who was staying in the residence nearby.

During a sentencing hearing for his case this week, prosecutors revealed that Chail’s Star Wars-inspired plan was aimed at avenging the 1919 Jallianwalla Bagh massacre and that he conversed with an artificial intelligence chatbot that encouraged him to carry it out.

According to the Independent, prosecutor Alison Morgan KC read out conversations between Chail and an AI chatbot he’d named “Sarai” where Chail says: “I’m an assassin.” Sarai responded, “I’m impressed … You’re different from the others.”