Google ordered to change autocomplete in Japan after privacy complaint
An unidentified man in Japan took Google to court after its autocomplete function linked his name to crimes he did not commit. The algorithmically generated suggestions caused reputational harm, making it difficult for him to find work. A Japanese court issued a provisional order for Google to delete the specific terms, but the company has not yet complied, stating it is reviewing the order. Google defended the feature, arguing that the suggestions are generated mechanically based on user search popularity.
- Company involved
- Google
- AI system involved
- Google Autocomplete
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Google Images displays mugshots for black teenagers, stock photos for white teenagers
In June 2016, a search for 'three black teenagers' on Google Images returned mugshots, while 'three white teenagers' showed happy stock photos. The biased results sparked criticism of racial bias in Google's search algorithm. The incident highlighted concerns about algorithmic discrimination.
- Company involved
- Google
- AI system involved
- Google Images
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Google Maps faces questions after three men die in Bareilly bridge crash
Three men died when their car fell from an unfinished bridge in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, after Google Maps allegedly directed them onto the route. The bridge had partially collapsed in floods and lacked barricades. Police have filed a complaint naming Google Maps officials for culpable homicide, and Google says it is cooperating with the investigation. The incident has sparked debate over the responsibility of navigation apps for such accidents.
- Company involved
- Google
- AI system involved
- Google Maps
2 source articles · read the reporting →
Dr. Yeung sues Google over autocomplete label 'triad'
Dr. Yeung, Sau Shing Albert brought a defamation lawsuit against Google Inc. after the search engine's autocomplete feature associated his name with the word 'triad' when users typed his name. Google's autocomplete algorithm generated the suggestion based on aggregated search data without human input. The Hong Kong court dismissed the case as unsuitable for summary judgment, finding it raised complex factual and legal questions about whether Google could be considered a publisher of automated search suggestions. The court granted Google leave to appeal the decision in October 2014, and the case remains pending.
- Company involved
- Google Inc.
- AI system involved
- Google Search autocomplete feature
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Bettina Wulff settles with Google over Autocomplete name associations
Bettina Wulff, wife of former German president Christian Wulff, sued Google over its Autocomplete feature that combined her name with terms from the red-light district. The search engine automatically generated such suggestions. Google and Wulff reached an out-of-court settlement, and Google independently changed its guidelines. The Federal Court of Justice had ruled in 2013 that Google must delete search suggestions that directly violate personality rights.
- Company involved
- Google
- AI system involved
- Autocomplete
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Google Autocomplete omits Trump assassination attempt suggestions
Google's Autocomplete feature was found to be omitting suggested search terms related to the attempted assassination of Donald Trump on July 13, 2024. Users and politicians, including Donald Trump Jr. and Senator Roger Marshall, accused Google of election interference. Google stated that no manual action was taken and that its systems include protections against predictions associated with political violence. The company said it is working on improvements.
- Company involved
- Google
- AI system involved
- Autocomplete
9 source articles · read the reporting →
Google engineer claims LaMDA AI is sentient
Google engineer Blake Lemoine claimed that the company's LaMDA chatbot AI had become sentient. He based this on conversations with the system. Google placed him on paid leave and denied the claim. No harm to users was reported.
- Company involved
- Google
- AI system involved
- LaMDA
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Google Maps directed Tahoe travellers onto dangerous roads during snowstorm
During a severe snowstorm in the Lake Tahoe area in December 2021, Google Maps allegedly directed travellers to closed-off and dangerous roads, including a narrow forest road. A professor publicly criticised the routing as a failure that could lead to deaths. Google acknowledged the issue and stated it was working to update routes using information from local authorities.
- Company involved
- Google
- AI system involved
- Google Maps
2 source articles · read the reporting →
Italian court rules Google liable for autocomplete defamation
A Milan court found Google guilty of libel after its autocomplete function linked an unnamed businessman's name with the terms 'conman' and 'fraud'. The entrepreneur, who provides educational services in personal finance, complained that these suggestions damaged his public image. Google argued it was not responsible for the algorithmically generated terms, but the court ordered the removal of the offending suggestions. The company expressed disappointment, stating that autocomplete predictions are based on previous users' searches.
- Company involved
- Google
- AI system involved
- Google Autocomplete
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Woman sues Google over unsafe walking directions
Lauren Rosenberg alleges that Google Maps provided walking directions that led her onto a busy road without sidewalks in Park City, Utah, where she was struck by a motorist and suffered severe injuries. She filed a lawsuit against Google Inc. in U.S. District Court in Utah, seeking over $100,000 in damages. The mobile version of Google Maps did not display a safety warning that was present on the computer version.
- Company involved
- Google Inc.
- AI system involved
- Google Maps
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Google found liable for defamatory search results in Australia
Google's search engine displayed images of Milorad Trkulja alongside convicted criminals and suggested defamatory autocomplete predictions. Trkulja sued Google for defamation. The High Court of Australia ruled that Google could be considered a publisher of the search results and that the material was capable of being defamatory, allowing the case to proceed.
- Company involved
- Google LLC
- AI system involved
- Google Search
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Google AdSense shows arrest ads more for black-sounding names
A study by Latanya Sweeney found that Google's AdSense system delivered ads suggestive of arrest records disproportionately for names associated with Black individuals compared to white-associated names. The study analysed 2184 racially associated names across two websites. Google maintained that it received the same ad text for groups of last names, but the cause of the disparity remains unknown.
- Company involved
- Google
- AI system involved
- Google AdSense
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Google AI Overview shows AI-generated mushroom images, experts warn
Google's AI Overview returned AI-generated images of mushrooms that did not match the species, leading experts to warn that foragers could be poisoned. The images appeared as top results for searches of edible mushrooms and were flagged as AI-generated. A Reddit moderator reported the issue to Google, and a Google spokesperson said the company was looking into it.
- Company involved
- Google
- AI system involved
- Google AI Overview
5 source articles · read the reporting →
Google Maps falsely labels German autobahns as closed, causing traffic jams
On May 29, 2025, a glitch in Google Maps falsely displayed stop signs on German autobahns and highways, indicating they were closed. The misinformation caused traffic jams as drivers avoided the routes. Google acknowledged the issue and removed the incorrect closures, but the cause remains unclear, with speculation that AI features may have hallucinated the data.
- Company involved
- Google
- AI system involved
- Google Maps
5 source articles · read the reporting →
Family sues Google after man dies driving off collapsed bridge while following Maps directions
In September 2022, Philip Paxson, a medical device salesman from North Carolina, died when his Jeep plunged into a creek after Google Maps directed him to cross a bridge that had been collapsed for nine years and never repaired. His family filed a negligence lawsuit against Google in September 2023, alleging that the company was informed of the collapse but failed to update its navigation system. The lawsuit claims Google's failure led to his death.
- Company involved
- Google
- AI system involved
- Google Maps
8 source articles · read the reporting →
Google's autocomplete subtitles mislead public about conspiracy theorists
A study by researchers at Simon Fraser University found that Google's autocomplete subtitle algorithm assigned neutral or positive labels to 30 of 37 conspiracy theorists, including Alex Jones as 'American Radio Host' and Gavin McInnes as 'Canadian writer'. The researchers argue this can mislead the public and amplify extremist views because the labels do not reflect publicly known harmful roles. Google says the subtitles are generated automatically and that custom subtitles cannot be accepted. No response to the findings is reported.
- Company involved
- Google
- AI system involved
- Google Autocomplete
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Google News boosts AI-generated articles that rip off other outlets
Google News is boosting sites that use AI to rapidly churn out content that rips off other outlets, according to a 404 Media investigation. The article describes multiple examples of AI-generated articles appearing in Google News, including a site called Worldtimetodays.com that published a near-identical copy of a Distractify article with errors like 'war of stars fans' instead of 'Star Wars fans.' Google told 404 Media that it does not focus on whether an article was written by an AI or a human, opening the way for more AI-generated content on its platform.
- Company involved
- Google
- AI system involved
- Google News
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Google algorithm misidentified software engineer as serial killer
Google's knowledge graph algorithm incorrectly associated a photo of software engineer Hristo Georgiev with a Wikipedia entry for a serial killer who shared his name. Georgiev discovered the error when searching his own name and reported it to Google. The company removed the image from the infobox, resolving the issue.
- Company involved
- Google
- AI system involved
- Google Knowledge Graph
7 source articles · read the reporting →
Google indexed public Bard chat URLs, raising privacy concerns
In September 2023, users discovered that Google Search was indexing URLs of shared conversations with its Bard chatbot, potentially exposing personal information shared in those chats to anyone via search. Google acknowledged the issue and said it was working to block indexing. By September 28, the conversations were no longer showing up in search results, and Google had fixed the problem.
- Company involved
- Google
- AI system involved
- Bard
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Teenager dies after Google Maps directs him onto abandoned Siberian road
An 18-year-old driver, Sergey Ustinov, froze to death in Siberia after Google Maps directed him onto a disused shortcut on the Road of Bones. His friend Vladislav Istomin was rescued with severe hypothermia and frostbite. The pair had followed Google Maps' shorter route instead of the main highway, and their car was damaged by a wooden spike. The incident is under investigation by Russian authorities.
- Company involved
- Google
- AI system involved
- Google Maps
7 source articles · read the reporting →
French court orders Google to delist link accusing man of child sex abuse
Mr. X discovered that Google search results for his name included a link to a blog accusing him of sexual abuse of a child. Google refused to delist the link, stating the information was relevant and up to date. Mr. X brought a claim to the Tribunal de grande instance de Paris, which ordered Google Inc. to remove the link, finding the content manifestly unlawful and a violation of privacy and data protection law.
- Company involved
- Google Inc.
- AI system involved
- Google search engine
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Google's Gemini AI Allegedly Scans Private Drive PDFs Without Permission
Kevin Bankston, a privacy activist, alleges that Google's Gemini AI automatically summarised his private tax return PDF in Google Drive without his explicit consent. Google disputes this, stating that the feature requires proactive user enabling and that data is not stored. Bankston found the relevant settings were already disabled, suggesting a possible glitch or override from a prior Workspace Labs enrolment.
- Company involved
- Google
- AI system involved
- Gemini AI
1 source article · read the reporting →
Google search shows AI-generated selfie for Tiananmen Square 'tank man'
Google's search engine displayed an AI-generated selfie as the top result for the query 'tank man', replacing the iconic photograph of the Tiananmen Square protest. The image was taken from a Reddit thread on the r/Midjourney community. After 404 Media contacted Google, the company removed the image from its Knowledge Graph and Knowledge Panels, stating that its policies do not allow inaccurate content on public interest topics.
- Company involved
- Google
- AI system involved
- Google Search
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Google Home Mini defect caused continuous recording of user's conversations
Author Artem Russakovskii discovered that his Google Home Mini was recording all sounds in his bathroom 24/7 and sending them to Google servers due to a hardware defect causing phantom touch events. The device activated thousands of times per day without the hotword. Google acknowledged the issue, issued a software update to disable the top touch functionality, and removed all affected recordings from their servers. The company stated the defect affected a small number of early release devices.
- Company involved
- Google
- AI system involved
- Google Home Mini
6 source articles · read the reporting →
