Incidents gathered from public reporting around the world. Each one links to the articles it came from. None of it is a finding that anyone broke the law.
Reports people file about their own experience are not shown here and never will be without their agreement. Tell us what happened to you.
116 incidents closest to “Google Hotels” · matched on meaning · public reporting
AI-generated travel guides are flooding Amazon, allegedly written by scammers using AI to produce generic, low-quality content. Customers who purchase these guides receive poor information and feel defrauded. Amazon claims to enforce content guidelines but many such books remain on the platform.
8 source articles · read the reporting →
Three Polish tourists used ChatGPT to plan a hiking route from Hala Gąsienicowa to Dolina Pięciu Stawów in the Tatra mountains. The AI recommended a difficult route through Przełęcz Krzyżne, which proved too dangerous in winter conditions with limited visibility and icy rocks. The tourists called the TOPR rescue service and were safely brought down. A TOPR rescuer advised against relying on ChatGPT or Google Maps for mountain route planning.
2 source articles · read the reporting →
A French interior ministry official used Google's AI to refuse visas to two female asylum seekers. The official boasted about this experiment in a memo presented to the administrative court. The case is now before the court.
3 source articles · read the reporting →
The Fukuoka prefecture in Japan apologised after a company used AI to generate content for its tourism website, resulting in listings for non-existent tourist attractions and local dishes. The prefecture acknowledged the error and highlighted the need for human oversight in AI use. No specific harm to individuals has been reported.
4 source articles · read the reporting →
Jason and Katharine Zoladz allege that Google Maps directed them through the Nyanga neighborhood in Cape Town, South Africa, a dangerous area known as 'Hell Run.' They were attacked by armed robbers, leaving Jason with a broken jaw requiring reconstructive surgery. The couple filed a lawsuit in California, claiming Google ignored warnings from officials about the dangerous route. Google has since changed the routing but denies liability.
6 source articles · read the reporting →
Meta is using an internal tool, Model Capability Initiative (MCI), to capture employees' keystrokes, mouse movements and screen contents on work computers, including on sites such as Google, LinkedIn, Wikipedia and Slack, to train AI agents. Meta confirmed the project and said safeguards protect sensitive content and that the data is not used for other purposes. Employees raised concerns in internal messages that the tool could expose passwords, product details and personal information. A Meta memo said staff can avoid capture by not doing personal work on work computers.
5 source articles · read the reporting →
Google's Gemini chatbot generated a biased and inappropriate response to a query about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A user on X shared screenshots, and Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar flagged the response as violating India's IT rules and criminal code. Google acknowledged the issue and said it had taken steps to address it, but warned that Gemini may not be reliable for current events and political topics.
5 source articles · read the reporting →
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.
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Google researchers fed 11,000 novels, including works by authors Rebecca Forster and Erin McCarthy, into a neural network to improve conversational AI without seeking permission. The Authors Guild condemned the use as a 'blatantly commercial use of expressive authorship'. Google defended the practice as fair use, stating it does not harm authors. The authors expressed frustration at not being informed or compensated.
10 source articles · read the reporting →
The Autorité de la concurrence has fined Google €250 million for breaching commitments on related rights. The authority found that Google's Bard (now Gemini) chatbot used content from press agencies and publishers to train its foundation model and for grounding and display, without informing them or offering an opt-out that did not affect other Google services. Google did not contest the facts and proposed corrective measures.
9 source articles · read the reporting →
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.
5 source articles · read the reporting →
A report by the Community Security Trust and Antisemitism Policy Trust analysed Google searches in the United Kingdom and found that Google's autocomplete formula was suggesting antisemitic search queries, directing users to hateful content. The report noted that after Google changed its autocomplete formula to eliminate antisemitic suggestions, the number of people searching for antisemitic material decreased. The research highlights how algorithmic systems can amplify hate.
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE) AI recommended drinking urine to pass kidney stones. A user shared a screenshot on X, which went viral. The advice is medically incorrect and potentially dangerous. Google has not responded to the incident.
6 source articles · read the reporting →
In May 2024, Google launched AI Overviews, a feature in Search that generates AI-powered summaries. Shortly after, users reported odd and erroneous overviews for some queries, including satirical or nonsense results. Google acknowledged the issues in a blog post and stated they made more than a dozen technical improvements to reduce inaccuracies. The company said that less than one in 7 million queries resulted in a content policy violation.
10 source articles · read the reporting →
The article reports that Google and Bing search engines display nonconsensual deepfake pornographic images of female celebrities at the top of image search results when searching for women's names combined with "deepfakes" or general terms like "fake nudes". The search engines also return links to tools that advertise the creation of such material. Victims can request removal through forms, but the companies do not proactively search for and delist the content. Legal experts and advocates say the burden is on victims and the companies have the technical ability to do more.
9 source articles · read the reporting →
Hundreds of thousands of conversations with Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok were indexed by Google Search and made publicly accessible without users' knowledge. The exposure occurred when users pressed a share button that created unique links, but those links were also searchable online. The BBC reported the incident after Forbes initially identified more than 370,000 exposed chats. Experts described the leak as a privacy disaster, and X has not publicly responded.
5 source articles · read the reporting →
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.
2 source articles · read the reporting →
Residents living near Google's £790m data centre under construction in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, say it has generated constant noise, blocked their views and reduced house values, and some believe the work has made them ill. Google said its $1 billion investment would bring compute capacity to the UK and that it was committed to being active members of the community. The construction is expected to be complete next year.
6 source articles · read the reporting →
Delta Air Lines is using generative AI from Fetcherr to determine some domestic flight prices, currently covering 3% of its network with plans to reach 20% by end of 2025. Democratic senators expressed concern that the AI could be used for individualized pricing based on personal data, leading to higher fares. Delta denies using personal data in pricing and states it complies with regulations. No actual harm has been reported.
8 source articles · read the reporting →
Google Lens's AI overviews provided false and misleading information about images, including miscaptioned videos and AI-generated footage. Full Fact found that the overviews repeated debunked claims and failed to identify inauthentic content. Google acknowledged the errors and said they were caused by problems with visual search results.
2 source articles · read the reporting →
In a Google Super Bowl ad, the Gemini AI system displayed a false statistic claiming that Gouda accounts for 50 to 60 percent of the world's cheese consumption. Nate Hake pointed out the error on X, and Google executive Jerry Dischler responded that it was not a hallucination and that users could check references. Google later removed the statistic from the video on YouTube.
5 source articles · read the reporting →
Google sent a news alert about the Bafta awards ceremony that included a racial slur, suggesting users 'see more' on the term. The alert was triggered by a failure in Google's safety features for push notifications. Google apologised and removed the notification, stating it was not due to generative AI.
5 source articles · read the reporting →
Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE) is recommending spam websites as part of its AI-generated answers, according to a viral tweet from SEO expert Lily Ray. The tweet and replies indicate that users are being directed to spam and pornographic sites. The issue appears to be ongoing, with no response from Google yet.
8 source articles · read the reporting →
San Jose has been running a pilot in which cameras on a municipal vehicle feed computer vision software being trained to detect lived-in vehicles and homeless encampments in District 10. The scheme, believed to be the first of its kind in the US, has prompted concern among housing advocates that it could be used to punish and displace unhoused residents. The city says the aim is to respond more efficiently to complaints about encampments and that the footage is not being actively monitored for law enforcement.
10 source articles · read the reporting →
