Google pulls incorrect Gouda stat from its AI Super Bowl ad

Google has edited Gemini’s AI response in a Super Bowl commercial to remove an incorrect statistic about cheese. The ad, which shows a small business owner using Gemini to write a website description about Gouda, no longer says the variety makes up “50 to 60 percent of the world’s cheese consumption.”

In the edited YouTube video, Gemini’s response now skips over the specifics and says Gouda is “one of the most popular cheeses in the world.” Google Cloud apps president Jerry Dischler initially defended the response, saying on X it’s “grounded in the Web” and “not a hallucination.” The change to the ad was spotted by @natejhake on X.

Andrew Novakovic, E.V. Baker Professor of Agricultural Economics Emeritus at Cornell University, confirmed to The Verge last week that Gouda “is almost assuredly not the most widely consumed” cheese in the world. Based on a quick web search, Gemini appears to have regurgitated the stat from a website called Cheese.com, which is filled with what seems to be SEO-optimized blogs.

A disclaimer beneath Gemini’s response says it’s “not intended to be factual,” but a tool framed as a writing aid for businesses should at least back itself up with reliable sources.