this post was submitted on 01 Oct 2025
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Google is blocking AI searches for Trump and dementia (www.theverge.com)
submitted 2 months ago by QuantumSpecter@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] SwingingTheLamp@midwest.social 97 points 2 months ago (13 children)

Forget the spokesperson, just ask Google AI directly:

AI on Google Search, including the AI Overviews in search, does not provide summaries on topics involving Donald Trump and dementia. This is due to risk aversion, sensitivity to political topics, and recent legal challenges. Instead, these searches return a list of traditional web links.

Reasons for the lack of response

  • Risk of misinformation: AI-generated conclusions about a public figure's health could spread misinformation. The mental acuity of Donald Trump and President Joe Biden, the oldest presidents in U.S. history, is a topic of public discussion.
  • Avoiding political sensitivity: AI models often have restrictions on sensitive or controversial topics to avoid biased responses. Google and other tech companies are cautious about how their AI products respond to election-related or partisan queries.
  • Legal history with Trump: Google's handling of Trump-related content may be influenced by recent legal and political issues. In 2025, Google paid a $24.5 million settlement in a lawsuit related to the suspension of Trump's YouTube account.
  • Inconsistent application of AI summaries: Some users report that searches about other politicians, like Barack Obama or Joe Biden, may return an AI-generated response, though this varies. This inconsistency has led to criticism that the AI applies selective censorship.

Google's statement A Google spokesperson stated that AI Overview and AI Mode do not always show answers to all queries, especially sensitive or complex ones. The company suggests that users rely on traditional search results in such cases.

[–] Dojan@pawb.social 45 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Okay, but why? LLMs always give a response, they’re trained to give a response regardless of accuracy. This entire wall of text could be completely made up.

[–] SwingingTheLamp@midwest.social 35 points 2 months ago (1 children)

So, essentially the same as a company spokesperson!

[–] Dojan@pawb.social 12 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Absolutely. It's the same untrustworthy substanceless nonsense.

[–] willington@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 2 months ago

We need to concern ourselves with what the corporations do.

Who gives a shit how they explain themselves?

Once the corps do something egregiously bad, we should not ask for an explanation. We should insist they change how they behave. Period.

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