Google's Bard AI Hallucinates in Its Own Promo Ad, Wiping $100bn Off Alphabet's Market Value
Source: bbc.com ↗
Why didn't you factcheck this example before sharing it? — Chris Harrison, Newcastle University fellow, replying to Google's tweet
In what may be the most expensive fact-check in history, Google's promotional ad for its new Bard chatbot contained a straightforward astronomical error: Bard claimed the James Webb Space Telescope was the first to photograph an exoplanet, when that honor actually belongs to the European Very Large Telescope — back in 2004. Astronomers on Twitter noticed immediately.
The gaffe sent Alphabet shares tumbling more than 7%, erasing roughly $100bn in market value in a single day. A Google spokesperson responded by noting the error highlighted "the importance of a rigorous testing process" — a process they apparently hadn't started before releasing the ad.