Acton teen charged with two murders after alleged use of AI for fantasy stories

A 17-year-old male resident of Acton has been charged with two counts of murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and vehicle-theft offenses following the deaths of his mother, Sudha Venkatesan, 45, and his brother, Siddharth Aravind, 14. The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office said the teen, identified as Arjun Aravind, allegedly used the artificial-intelligence tool ChatGPT to create fantasy stories and ask questions about how to kill his family.

Police were alerted on Tuesday evening after the boy’s father requested a well-being check when a visitor could not gain entry to the home. Officers entered the residence on Martha Lane and found the two victims with “obvious trauma.” The exact cause and manner of death remain under investigation by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

After the killings, Aravind is alleged to have taken his mother’s car. A statewide alert was issued for the vehicle. The next morning, Wayland police responding to an unrelated alarm spotted the car and located Aravind inside, leading to his arrest.

Aravind is scheduled for arraignment on the vehicle-related charges in Lowell Juvenile Court on August 12, with the murder and assault charges to be heard in Concord District Court on August 13. Under Massachusetts law, anyone 14 or older charged with murder is tried as an adult.

"Arjun had recently been demonstrating some concerning behavior, including using the internet and ChatGPT to make searches for theoretical ideas or fantasy stories of the killing of his family," District Attorney Marian Ryan said at a press conference.

The investigation is ongoing, and officials described the incident as a tragic event for the family and the community.