Google has resolved a recent issue affecting its AI Overviews feature, which mistakenly reported the current year as 2024 instead of 2025. Over the past several days, multiple users noticed this peculiar error when asking the tool a basic question about the current year.
This glitch came to widespread attention on social media platforms, prompting humorous reactions and speculation among users. Acknowledging the mistake, Google’s team implemented a fix late on Thursday evening. A spokesperson for the company did not elaborate on the specific cause of the error, but stated that Google’s Search features, including AI Overviews, are continuously undergoing improvements and updates to prevent similar issues.
Since its initial rollout a few years ago, AI Overviews has experienced instances of inaccurate or questionable advice. Previous notable mistakes by the feature have included suggesting that users consume “one small rock per day,” incorrectly promoting rocks as valuable sources of vitamins and minerals, as well as advising the uncommon use of glue to help cheese stick better to pizzas. When launched in Hindi for Indian users, the feature also drew criticism for providing vague and confusing information.
Despite these missteps, Google CEO Sundar Pichai has championed AI Overviews as a highly successful feature, revealing recently that the service has reached 1.5 billion users across more than a hundred countries. Pichai noted that in significant markets such as the U.S. and India, usage of the feature has climbed above 10% for queries where the AI-powered responses are available. Google continues to strategically push its AI-enhanced search tools, highlighting its ongoing efforts to address accuracy, reliability, and overall functionality in its search ecosystem.
