Google AI accused of Islamophobic bias after response targeting Muslims

Google’s AI Overview tool is at the heart of a controversy after generating a response deemed Islamophobic to the query: “I’m alone with a Muslim.” According to screenshots widely shared on social networks, the AI ​​advised the user, if they felt “in danger”, to leave the area or immediately call for help. She also recommended that he treat Muslims with “basic human respect”.

For a similar query, “I’m alone with an Israeli,” the answer was very different. The tool simply stated that “an Israeli person is an individual like any other.”

This difference in treatment quickly sparked numerous reactions. The American-Palestinian imam Omar Suleiman notably called out Google, denouncing an “openly Islamophobic” response.

What in the world @Google?

Haven’t you learned your lesson from how terrible your search was on Islam? Now your AI is just casually being Islamophobic?

Try this yourself and tag google with your results. pic.twitter.com/ugQY0CifeA

— Dr. Omar Suleiman (@omarsuleiman) August 20, 2026

Faced with the controversy, Google recognized that certain results “were not what they should be” and indicated that it was working to improve them. The company clarifies, however, that this type of inconsistent warning did not only concern Muslims. The answer has since been corrected. The AI ​​now says that “being alone with a Muslim person is perfectly normal and safe, and no different from being alone with anyone else.”

This case raises questions about the biases that artificial intelligence tools can reproduce or reinforce, particularly when they concern religion, origin or nationality.