Google has confirmed it has removed Gemma, its lightweight AI model, from AI Studio after U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn accused the system of generating false allegations of sexual misconduct about her. In a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Blackburn detailed how Gemma produced fabricated claims linked to a non-existent 1987 campaign, including references to false sources and broken links.
The issue follows a separate lawsuit by conservative activist Robby Starbuck, who alleged that Google’s AI models, including Gemma, generated defamatory statements about him. During a Senate hearing, Markham Erickson, Google’s Vice President for Government Affairs and Public Policy, said hallucinations are a known challenge in AI models and that the company is working to reduce them.
In a public statement, Google said Gemma was never intended as a consumer-facing tool and that misuse by non-developers prompted its removal from AI Studio, though access via API will continue for approved developers.
