Google DeepMind CEO addresses the Gemini debacle and says image generator could be back in a 'couple of weeks'

Google Gemini's feature to offer a "universal range of possibilities" was applied "too bluntly," Hassabis said.

• Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis addressed the Gemini debacle at Mobile World Conference.
• He said the company hopes to have the image generator online again in a "couple of weeks."
• He said a well-intended feature had been applied "too bluntly."

Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis said the company hopes to relaunch its artificial intelligence image generator as soon as the next "couple of weeks."

Google paused access to its image generator last week after users found that the tool would produce historically inaccurate images, including racially diverse images of the US Founding Fathers and Nazis.

Speaking at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona, Hassabis addressed the debacle and said the company had intended for Gemini to show a "universal range of possibilities" in the images it produces, accounting for the many different countries where Gemini is available.

"That, which is a well-intended feature, was applied, it turns out, too bluntly," Hassabis said.

"We care of course about historical accuracy and so we've taken that feature offline while we fix that, and we hope to have that back online in very short order, the next couple of weeks, a few weeks."

In a blog post last week, Google's search lead Prabhakar Raghavan said the Gemini image maker "missed the mark."

"Some of the images generated are inaccurate or even offensive. We're grateful for users' feedback and are sorry the feature didn't work well," he added.