Google Pulls AI Ad for Olympics Following Criticism
The ad, titled “Dear Sydney,” showed a father asking the AI to help his daughter write a letter to her favorite athlete, U.S. hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.
Google has removed its Olympics ad for the Gemini chatbot after receiving feedback about its portrayal of AI. The ad, titled “Dear Sydney,” showed a father asking the AI to help his daughter write a letter to her favorite athlete, U.S. hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.[1]
The father prompts Gemini to assist with the letter, and the draft produced by the AI is briefly displayed before the ad concludes with the girl running on a track, with the text, “A little help from Gemini.”
Although the ad remains on YouTube, it has been taken off television. Google stated that, despite initial positive testing, it decided to discontinue the ad due to the feedback received. The company noted that Gemini is meant to provide a "starting point" for writing and that AI should support rather than replace human creativity.
In May, Google unveiled Gemini Advanced and the Gemini mobile app in Arabic, offering enhanced conversational AI experiences to users across Android and iOS devices.
Gemini, previously known as Bard, now allows users to interact with Google's AI capabilities in Arabic dialects, with responses delivered in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). Available through the Google One AI Premium plan, Gemini Advanced introduces Gemini 1.5 Pro, helping users with advanced capabilities such as coding, logical reasoning, and collaborative project management.
Android users can access the Google Gemini app on Google Play, while iOS users can utilize the Gemini toggle within the Google app.
In February, Google announced that there are two versions of the work-focused Gemini product: Gemini Business for small and medium-sized businesses and Gemini Enterprise for large organizations.