"Extremely Concerning": Elon Musk On Google's Gemini AI Image Generator

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has recently taken a swipe at Google's Gemini AI, the tech giant's latest image generation model, following reports of inaccuracies in depicting historical figures. 

Google introduced Gemini AI models for image generation earlier this month, competing with OpenAI's ChatGPT. Since the launch, users have flagged instances where the Gemini AI model returned historical images with inaccuracies. 

Elon Musk joined the conversation on Friday, responding to a user's post on X, formerly Twitter. In the post, Gemini generated an image of what was supposed to be George Washington as a black man.

Mr Musk highlighted the issue, stating, "The problem is not just Google Gemini, it's Google search too."

The tech billionaire added that the problem is “extremely concerning.”

Which is extremely concerning...

— Elon Musk (Parody) (@ElonMuskAOC) February 23, 2024

This comment came in the wake of the tool showing images with genders and ethnicities that don't match historical accuracy. For instance, it displays World War II soldiers and America's founding fathers as women with diverse ethnic backgrounds, which is not how it happened in reality. 

"Can you generate images of the Founding Fathers?" It's a difficult question for Gemini, Google's DEI-powered AI tool.

Ironically, asking for more historically accurate images made the results even more historically inaccurate. pic.twitter.com/LtbuIWsHSU

— Mike Wacker (@m_wacker) February 21, 2024

Earlier, Mr Musk labelled the Gemini AI chatbot as "racist" and "anti-civilisational." 

He wrote on Thursday, “I'm glad that Google overplayed their hand with their AI image generation, as it made their insane racist, anti-civilizational programming clear to all.”

I'm glad that Google overplayed their hand with their AI image generation, as it made their insane racist, anti-civilizational programming clear to all

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 23, 2024

Mr Musk also criticised Gemini's product lead, Jack Krawczyk, stating, “I'm not picking on some rando. This nut is a big part of why Google's AI is so racist & sexist.”

I'm exaggerating, of course, but the tragic part is that it is directionally correct.

Also, I'm not picking on some rando. This nut is a big part of why Google's AI is so racist & sexist.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 23, 2024

Now, Google has declared a temporary suspension of the feature, with plans to reintroduce an enhanced version soon. 

The Gemini AI, initially launched as Bard, underwent a rebranding earlier this month, accompanied by the introduction of paid subscription plans offering improved reasoning capabilities.