Google's cringey ad imagines founding fathers using Gemini AI

Google's latest commercial for Workspace has sparked widespread ridicule, portraying the founding fathers embracing AI collaboration tools to draft the Declaration of Independence. The ad opens with Ben Franklin texting Thomas Jefferson to check on a draft, followed by Jefferson snapping a photo and using AI to transcribe it into a Google Doc. Franklin and Adams then jump in with suggestion-mode edits, Gemini finds a meeting time, takes notes during a Google Meet call, and even creates a seal featuring a turkey instead of an eagle. The final punchline? The group asks Gemini whether King George III should be given edit access to the document, a joke many found tone-deaf and trivializing.

The Verge's Terrence O'Brien calls the ad “ill-advised, corny, and just plain dumb,” noting that it ignores the darker historical context—slavery, women's voting rights, and Manifest Destiny—that would make AI's cheerful assistance absurd. CUNY history professor Angus Johnston added on Bluesky, “Even in a corny fantasy joke, it’s impossible to make the case that AI is a useful tool for political organizing, writing, or human collaboration.” The backlash highlights a recurring risk for Big Tech: attempting to be clever with historical analogies often backfires, especially when promoting tools that are already under scrutiny for their societal impacts.