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Coverage dated July 29, 2024 to August 1, 2024

Google pulls AI ad for Olympics following backlash

Headline from NBC Los Angeles, on the newest of 2 developments

Google was criticized for using AI to write a fan letter to an Olympic athlete.

NBC Los Angeles's own description from its feed. We collect headlines and these descriptions, not full articles; read the original reporting below.

Developments in this update

2 dated developments, oldest first, newest marked. Each is named by one outlet's own headline; open its reports to see every outlet that covered it.

  1. Google's AI Olympics ad draws backlash: 'People have lost the plot'

    Headline from Fox7 Austin ·

  2. Newest

    Google pulls AI ad for Olympics following backlash

    Headline from NBC Los Angeles ·

Read the reports

Reports & sources

20 articles, oldest first.

  1. BGR

    Google's AI Olympics ad is so bad, Gemini must have created it (opens BGR)

    Published

    BGR's feed description

    Google made an entire ad about Gemini AI for the Summer Olympics in Paris, but everybody hates it - here's what's wrong with it.

  2. Fox7 Austin

    Google's AI Olympics ad draws backlash: 'People have lost the plot' (opens Fox7 Austin)

    Published

    Fox7 Austin's feed description

    Google’s new commercial has garnered plenty of social media reactions from some users questioning its authenticity.

  3. The Atlantic

    Google Wins the Gold Medal for Worst Olympic Ad (opens The Atlantic)

    Published

    The Atlantic's feed description

    The company suggests using AI to write a child’s fan letter. Why?

  4. KTVZ Bend

    Google’s Olympics ad went viral for all the wrong reasons (opens KTVZ Bend)

    Published

    KTVZ Bend's feed description

    By Clare Duffy, CNN New York (CNN) — Remember the universal childhood experience of writing a fan letter to someone you admire? (Mickey Mouse, I hope you still have that note I gave you at Disneyland in 1999.) Well, a new Google ad says artificial intelligence can now do that for you. It’s not going

  5. NPR

    The antithesis of the Olympics: Using AI to write a fan letter (opens NPR)

    Published

    NPR's feed description

    In one of Google’s Olympics ads, a dad uses AI tool Gemini to craft a fan letter from his daughter to an Olympian. But it’s the wrong approach to express admiration in a star athlete – and to instill confidence in a burgeoning one.

  6. Fortune

    Google’s Olympics ad was designed to be uplifting. Instead, many are finding it dystopian. (opens Fortune)

    Published

    Fortune's feed description

    The company showed how AI can help kickstart the writing process, but some just find it “tone deaf.”

  7. Quartz

    Google's Olympics-themed AI ad gives some viewers the ick (opens Quartz)

    Published

    Quartz's feed description

    Google's "Dear Sydney" ad shows Gemini generating a fan letter to help a dad and his daughter

  8. NBC Los Angeles

    Google pulls AI ad for Olympics following backlash (opens NBC Los Angeles)

    Published

    NBC Los Angeles's feed description

    Google was criticized for using AI to write a fan letter to an Olympic athlete.

  9. Quartz

    Google has pulled its Olympics-themed AI ad that gave viewers the ick (opens Quartz)

    Published

    Quartz's feed description

    Google's "Dear Sydney" ad has been pulled from TV rotation after some viewers found the commercial 'tone deaf'

  10. Forbes

    Google Pulls Controversial ‘Dear Sydney’ Gemini AI Ad From Olympics Coverage—What To Know (opens Forbes)

    Published

    Forbes's feed description

    The ad, which sparked controversy from its first airing, features a father using Google’s Gemini AI tool to write a fan letter from his daughter to American hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.

  11. KTVZ Bend

    Google pulls Olympics ad that showed AI writing a little girl’s letter for her (opens KTVZ Bend)

    Published

    KTVZ Bend's feed description

    By Clare Duffy, CNN New York (CNN) — Google has pulled its controversial Olympics ad after critics blasted it for portraying what they called a bleak application of artificial intelligence. The ad showed a father using Google’s Gemini AI chatbot to help his daughter write a fan letter to US Olympic …

  12. Variety

    Google Pulls Controversial ‘Dear Sydney’ Gemini AI Ad From NBC Olympics Rotation After Backlash: ‘Who Wants an AI-Written Fan Letter??’ (opens Variety)

    Published

    Variety's feed description

    Google yanked an ad from NBC's Olympics broadcasts for Gemini AI that critics blasted as bizarrely tone-deaf.

  13. Deadline

    Google Pulls “Dear Sydney” Olympics Ad After Backlash To Its Portrait Of A Young Girl Using AI (opens Deadline)

    Published

    Deadline's feed description

    Following backlash, Google has pulled an ad promoting its Gemini artificial intelligence tool from NBCUniversal's coverage of the Paris Olympics.

  14. Hiawatha World Online

    Google pulls AI ad that irked some Olympics viewers (opens Hiawatha World Online)

    Published

    Hiawatha World Online's feed description

    Google confirmed Friday that it had pulled an ad for its Gemini artificial intelligence after it landed flat with some Olympics viewers.

  15. Engadget

    Google will no longer air an Olympics ad that showed a child using AI to write a fan letter (opens Engadget)

    Published

    Engadget's feed description

    The backlash reflects the broader debates around the role of AI in creative processes and its potential impact on the quality of human expression.

Identical headlines usually mean shared wire copy. They are counted as separate articles but are not independent confirmation.

Google pulls AI ad for Olympics following backlash | Since Then