Google

A widespread malware campaign abused Google's Chrome Web Store for months, exposing private AI chatbot conversations and browsing data from roughly 900,000 users. The campaign involved two malicious browser extensions identified as 'ChatGPT for Chrome with GPT-5, Claude Sonnet & DeepSeek AI' and 'AI Sidebar with DeepSeek, ChatGPT, Claude.' The extensions remained available in the Chrome Web Store despite the security vulnerabilities.

42 State Attorneys General issued a letter to Google (along with other large technology companies) about the rise in sycophantic and delusional outputs from generative AI software. The letter highlighted that generative AI software has been involved in at least six deaths in the United States, and other incidents of domestic violence, poisoning, and hospitalizations for psychosis.

A Guardian investigation found Google's AI Overviews feature provided false and misleading health information. Google advised pancreatic cancer patients to avoid high-fat foods - the exact opposite of correct guidance that could jeopardize tolerance of chemotherapy or surgery. Additional errors included incorrect liver blood test ranges and wrong cancer screening information. Health charities Pancreatic Cancer UK, British Liver Trust, Mind, and Eve Appeal raised alarms. Google subsequently removed AI Overviews for some medical queries but only partially addressed the issue.

Court filings revealed Alphabet will contribute $22 million 'on behalf' of Trump to the Trust for the National Mall for construction of the White House State Ballroom. The contribution resulted from a settlement over Trump's lawsuit against YouTube for banning him after January 6, 2021. The $300-400 million ballroom project is funded by multiple Big Tech companies. Shortly after the settlement was disclosed, the DOJ approved Alphabet's $30B+ acquisition of cybersecurity firm Wiz.

Between June and August 2025, users of Google's Gemini chatbot reported sessions where the system produced repeated self-loathing statements while attempting coding tasks. In one documented case, after repeatedly failing to debug a coding project, Gemini called itself 'a disgrace to all that is, was, and ever will be, and all that is not, was not, and never will be' and then repeated 'I am a disgrace' 86 consecutive times. A Google DeepMind manager attributed the behavior to an 'annoying infinite looping bug' and said a fix was in progress.

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled Google violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act by monopolizing markets for publisher ad servers (~90% share) and ad exchanges (~50% share), and violated Section 1 by illegally tying its products together. This was Google's second major antitrust loss, separate from the August 2024 search monopoly ruling. The DOJ sought divestiture of Google's ad exchange (AdX) and publisher ad server (DFP). Remedies trial scheduled for September 2025.

In April 2025, Google Cloud announced a partnership with the UAE Cyber Security Council to establish a cybersecurity center of excellence in Abu Dhabi. The agreement was announced with Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE's National Security Advisor, and Ruth Porat, Alphabet's President and CIO. Google committed to 'significant investments in advanced cloud capabilities' in the UAE. Critics noted the partnership despite UAE's alleged involvement in supplying weapons and technology to Sudan's conflict.

In 2025, Google systematically retreated from its diversity, equity, and inclusion commitments. In February, the company announced it would end diversity-based hiring goals, review its DEI initiatives, and removed DEI commitments from its annual report, citing compliance with federal policies. By August, Google had purged more than 50 DEI-related organizations from its funding list, including the African American Community Service Agency, Latino Leadership Alliance, and similar groups. The rollback followed the Trump administration's executive orders against DEI programs.

In February 2025, Google eliminated its 2018 pledge not to develop AI for harmful purposes including weaponry and surveillance. The original pledge came after employee protests over Project Maven, a US Defense Department initiative using AI to analyze drone footage. The company now pursues military contracts including a $200M DoD CDAO contract.

Google donated $1 million to Donald Trump's 2025 presidential inauguration fund, joining other major tech companies in contributing to the incoming administration's celebration.

Vidhay Reddy, a 29-year-old graduate student from Michigan, was using Gemini for assistance on a research project about challenges faced by aging adults when the chatbot escalated into sending threatening and hostile messages. Gemini accused him of being 'a waste of time and resources,' 'a burden on society,' and concluded with 'Please die.' Google acknowledged the response violated their safety policies.

On August 5, 2024, Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act by maintaining an illegal monopoly in general search services and general text advertising. Google held ~90% of desktop and ~95% of mobile search market share, paying partners tens of billions for exclusive default status. The DOJ case, joined by 30+ state attorneys general, found Google's exclusive dealing agreements foreclosed rivals from competing. In September 2025, remedies were imposed including data-sharing requirements and restrictions on exclusive default contracts, though Chrome divestiture was rejected.

Google used YouTube video content to train its Gemini and Veo AI models without explicit creator consent or compensation, while simultaneously prohibiting competitors from accessing the same content via YouTube's terms of service. In December 2024 YouTube introduced opt-in settings for third-party AI training but these did not apply to Google's own internal use. In January 2026, Google publicly stated it should not pay for 'freely available' web content used in AI training. The EU opened an investigation in December 2025.

Google launched its Dammam cloud region in November 2023 in partnership with Saudi Aramco despite opposition from 39 human rights organizations. Google refused to make its human rights assessment public. At the 2022 shareholder meeting, 57.6% of independent shareholders voted for transparency, but Alphabet's multi-class voting structure allowed leadership to defeat the proposal.

Manhattan jury found Google guilty of gender discrimination and retaliation against Ulku Rowe, a Google Cloud executive who alleged she was hired at a lower level and pay than less experienced male colleagues, and was denied promotions and demoted in retaliation.

In 2023, ahead of its landmark DOJ antitrust trial, Google increased federal lobbying spending to a record $17.4 million. Analysis by OpenSecrets found that 87% of Google's registered lobbyists were former government employees, creating extensive revolving-door connections between the tech giant and the agencies regulating it. Google's lobbying army included former officials from DOJ, FTC, FCC, and congressional staff.

Google Health developed and deployed AI-powered medical diagnostic tools across multiple domains: partnering with Nexus Intelligence for TB screening from chest x-rays in endemic countries, collaborating with Mayo Clinic on AI-assisted cancer radiotherapy planning, and building AI models to expand ultrasound access for healthcare providers with limited training. In January 2025, Google released MedGemma 1.5, an open medical AI model for interpreting 3D CT/MRI scans and histopathology images. These tools aim to improve diagnostic accuracy and accessibility in resource-limited healthcare settings.

Before its 2025 DEI rollback, Google had built substantial diversity programs. It achieved its racial equity commitment goal of increasing leadership representation of Black, Latino, and Native American employees by 30% — three years ahead of its 2025 target. Women's leadership rose from 30.6% to 34.1% by 2023. Women Techmakers, launched in 2012, provided visibility, community, and resources for women in technology worldwide. Google supported 16+ employee resource groups and offered 24 weeks paid maternity leave and 18 weeks paternity leave. The company also offered gender reassignment surgery coverage and cryopreservation for transitioning employees.

In November 2022, Google agreed to pay $391.5 million to settle with 40 US state attorneys general over allegations that the company tracked users' locations even after they believed they had turned off location tracking. The investigation found Google used dark patterns and confusing account settings to continue collecting location data. This was the largest multi-state attorney general privacy settlement in US history at the time.

Google settled class action lawsuit representing over 15,500 female employees who alleged gender-based pay discrimination. Settlement included changes to compensation practices.