Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG GOOGL Google CEO Sundar Pichai addressed the recent uproar over the company’s Gemini AI chatbot, which has faced criticism for generating historically inaccurate images and text.
What Happened: Acknowledging the issue for the first time since the Gemini controversy broke out last week, Pichai said that it is "completely inacceptable" in an internal memo reported by Semafor.
Gemini AI had been generating racially diverse images of Nazi-era German soldiers, and US Founding Fathers even misrepresented Google’s own co-founders. This led to Google temporarily disabling the AI’s ability to generate images.
In the memo, Pichai stated that the company has been “working around the clock” to address the problematic responses in Gemini. However, he did not confirm that the problem had been completely resolved.
"No AI is perfect, especially at this emerging stage of the industry's development, but we know the bar is high for us and we will keep at it for however long it takes."
Pichai also emphasized that Google’s mission to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful remains "sacrosanct."
He assured that the company will be driving a clear set of actions, including structural changes, updated product guidelines, improved launch processes, and technical recommendations to prevent such issues in the future.
Why It Matters: The controversy began when Gemini AI was found to be generating irrelevant or inaccurate images, including those of Google’s co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
Following this, Google halted Gemini AI’s image generation feature after it inaccurately represented historical figures. The issue drew criticism from tech billionaires like Elon Musk, who revealed that Google was taking immediate action to address the concerns of racial and gender bias in Gemini AI.
The controversy has raised questions about the responsible use of AI, with former Reddit CEO Yishan Wong suggesting that the issue is bigger than just being "woke."
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