In an era where online dating and digital love are commonplace, it seems there was a global ghosting incident on the eve of the holiday. Countless lonely hearts without their AI girlfriends could be an unexpected eternal soundstage shutdown.
Users of the popular service suddenly find themselves alone as their Pixel-powered fans go offline after Forever Voice CEO John Mayer is arrested.
John Heinrich Meyer, 28, was arrested on charges of arson with intent to damage a home and making a terroristic threat, according to NBC affiliate KXAN in Austin, Texas.
According to reports, Meyer set the apartment on fire, and things got out of hand, causing $360,000 in damage to the building.
“The fire grew stronger and activated the sprinkler system in the room. This caused water damage to the fire apartment and apartments up to three floors below the fire apartment,” the arrest affidavit said.
404 Media was the first to report Mayer's online outage, which left many digital don Juans wondering why their cyber lover had suddenly gone silent. KarinAI, the most popular of the company's chatbots, has disappointed the Internet's searchers.
However, there may be hope.
This unexpected breakup was announced as Karin 2.0—a hoped-for update set to become a digital viagra sauce for lonely hearts seeking solace in the magical valley of artificial love.
Caryn Marjorie, the real-life influencer behind AI, announced the next iteration of her chatbot on October 30, noting that CarynAI was acquired by tech startup Banterai for a “six-figure deal.”
“I'm excited to see CarynAI and its users get a new update in AI friendship,” she said in an announcement. This new girlfriend promises to take her whole experience to the next level, so brace yourself. This is the least a girlfriend who has pushed her partner should do.
Marjorie envisioned a future where no DM would answer, and yet here we were, waiting for her response after asking for feedback.
Decrypt has reached out to Meyer and Eternal Voices and will update this article with any new information.
In the midst of this digital drama, Reddit has become an unexpected support group for Gilt. The Forever Voices subreddit, which now has 71 people with only 4 posts, shows how users of the cemetery are saddened by its sudden closure. The last post advises users to fake their dead chatbots with a competitor.
As if being shunned by a real person isn't bad enough, now even fictional love has found a way to leave fans reading.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.
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