Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.) | Report on Generative Artificial Intelligence Misinformation and Disinformation R at Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)

Status
Filed
Previous AGM date
Resolution details
Company ticker
GOOGL
Lead filer
Vancity Investment Management
Resolution ask
Conduct due diligence, audit or risk/impact assessment
ESG theme
  • Social
ESG sub-theme
  • Digital rights
Type of vote
Shareholder proposal
Filer type
Shareholder
Company sector
Technology
Company HQ country
United States
Resolved clause
Resolved: Shareholders request that the Board commission a third-party assessment, at reasonable expense, of additional actions the company could take to mitigate the proliferation of false information on the platform and report to shareholders, omitting proprietary or privileged information, with a summary of the outcome of the assessment. At board and managements discretion, the report may include additional uses of human, algorithmic, whistleblower or other methods to more promptly detect and eliminate false information and prevent its elevation and dissemination.
Whereas clause
Generative AI is central to Google?s business, with Gemini, Gemma, Veo 3, and Nano Banana models integrated across the company?s offerings. Google?s AI Overviews have two billion monthly users,1 with many users relying on Overviews instead of clicking on traditional search links.2 In October 2025, Alphabet reported record quarterly revenue, with CEO Pichai saying, "We're seeing AI now driving real business results across the company."3 Yet generative AI is prone to falsehoods. Google has acknowledged that so-called ?hallucinations? are ?a problem for all large language models across the industry.?4 NewsGuard, which assesses information reliability, found Gemini "spreads false claims" nearly 17% of the time.5 Model accuracy can also be impacted by bad training data6 and efforts to ?poison? models by bad actors.7 Shareholders are concerned that Google generative AI produces falsehoods that cause real world harm and engender legal, regulatory, financial, and reputational risks to Alphabet. Ultimately, the proliferation of AI related falsehoods is creating a larger problem for society, what has been called ?epistemic collapse? ? a world in which users are increasingly unable to discern what is true or authentic. Google has been sued in Delaware,8 Washington DC,9 Minnesota,10 and Brazil11 for harms allegedly incurred as a result of falsehoods produced by Google?s generative AI. Google?s generative AI models have stirred controversy that could threaten its business; in October 2025, the Gemma model was removed from Google?s AI Studio platform after a U.S. senator alleged that it fabricated ?serious criminal allegations? about her. Amidst widespread media coverage, the senator advised Google: ?Shut it down until you can control it.?12 Google?s Veo 3 ? which can generate hyperrealistic video depicting misleading information ? has been integrated into YouTube Shorts; a PC Magazine reviewer says it ?has the potential to create disinformation on a catastrophic scale.? NewsGuard says Google?s Nano Banana Pro is a ?misinformation superspreader? that advanced false claims about politicians, public health topics, and top brands 100 percent of the time when prompted to do so.13 While Google?s policy guidelines aim to prohibit generative AI from producing harmful factual inaccuracies, shareholders question whether they are sufficiently effective at mitigating risks to the company amidst a proliferation of lawsuits and new regulation regarding generative AI.14 Without policies and practices that minimize generative AI falsehoods, there is considerable risk to Alphabet, and an ?existential threat?15 to generative AI technology itself.

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