The move comes after India issued an advisory requiring tech firms to get government permission before launching new AI models. Google's decision also follows a controversy last month when Gemini, in response to a query about whether Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a fascist, said Modi had been accused of implementing policies that some characterized as fascist. It is unclear whether Google will lift the restrictions on Gemini for answering election-related queries after the elections end later this year.
Key takeaways:
- Google has started to restrict queries made to its AI chatbot, Gemini, when they relate to elections in any market globally where elections are taking place.
- The restrictions aim to prevent the service from being weaponized and producing inaccurate or misleading responses.
- Queries regarding political parties, candidates, politicians now return a preset message, although the tool can still be gamed with typos.
- The update was released just before the announcement of the general elections in India, following an advisory requiring tech firms to get government permission before launching their new AI models.