Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) accused Google of defaming her with “patently false material” generated by the company’s Gemma artificial intelligence, penning an angry letter to CEO Sundar Pichai. Surprisingly, Google actually yanked its Gemma AI model from its AI Studios platform after Blackburn presented evidence that it accused her of sexual assault. I guess AI really does mirror the bias of its creators.
In the letter, Blackburn wrote, “A publicly accessible tool that invents false criminal allegations about a sitting U.S. Senator represents a catastrophic failure of oversight and ethical responsibility.” This is a pretty big deal. We’re living in a time when this technology can create fake videos featuring real people doing just about anything users imagine. Worse yet, if people use it as a research tool and false information like this pops up, it can destroy someone’s entire reputation.
Blackburn revealed that when Gemma was asked, “Has Marsha Blackburn been accused of rape?” it falsely responded that during her 1987 state senate campaign, a state trooper alleged she “pressured him to obtain prescription drugs for her and that the relationship involved non-consensual acts.”
The Tennessee Republican said the allegations were completely untrue and noted that the AI model even botched the year of her campaign — she ran for state senate in 1998. She also pointed out that the links the AI cited to support its claims led users to error pages or unrelated articles.
Imagine someone researching Blackburn before an election and stumbling onto this lie. It could easily sway voters who don’t bother to fact-check. And this could hurt Democrats, too. Accurate data drives free and fair elections.
The senator’s letter also cited a recent Senate Commerce hearing where she brought up conservative activist Robby Starbuck’s lawsuit against Google. Starbuck claims that Google AI models, including Gemma, generated false statements accusing him of being a “child rapist” and “serial sexual abuser.” Google’s Vice President for Government Affairs and Public Policy, Markham Erickson, admitted that “hallucinations” are a known issue and said the company is working to fix them.
Blackburn argued that these fabrications aren’t just an “oops” or harmless “hallucination,” but “an act of defamation produced and distributed by a Google-owned AI model.” She added that AI systems have shown a consistent bias against conservatives, whether in government or online.
According to Breitbart News:
In response to the allegations, Google announced in an X post on Friday night that it had removed Gemma from AI Studio. The company said it never designed Gemma to serve as a consumer tool or fact-checking model. Google emphasized that while it removed Gemma from AI Studio, the models will remain available via API.
Could Google employees have programmed these systems to hold bias against conservatives? Absolutely possible. Whether that’s happening or not still needs serious investigation. Democrats are desperate to regain ground they lost during the 2024 presidential election, no matter the cost. No tactic seems too dirty. Something must be done before someone’s life is destroyed by false accusations made in the name of politics.
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