Google’s AI Overview showed different behavior on searches about President Donald Trump’s mental acuity compared with similar searches about former President Joe Biden. When The Independent searched “is trump in cognitive decline,” the tool displayed: “An AI Overview is not available for this search.” The same query for Biden produced an AI summary.
Different results across similar searches
According to The Independent, Google’s AI Overview, which appears at the top of search, withheld a response for the Trump query. It then provided a summary for the Biden query. In Google’s AI Mode tab, the Trump query showed a list of 10 news results. In the same mode for Biden, an AI summary appeared.
Tech outlet The Verge first reported a similar gap. It searched “does trump show signs of dementia,” and saw the same “not available” message. When The Independent entered that query later, the message no longer appeared.
Google explains AI response choices
When contacted, a Google spokesperson told The Independent that AI Overviews and AI Mode “won’t show a response to every query.” The spokesperson said the systems decide when an AI response is useful, and results are not always consistent. They added that the company does not show AI Overviews on every query, and in AI Mode it may show a list of links for some topics, like current events.
Context around AI and politics
The Independent noted that Google CEO Sundar Pichai attended a White House dinner with the president in early September. There he thanked Trump for his leadership and praised the administration’s “AI Action Plan,” launched in July. Pichai said the AI moment is transformative, and said the plan was a great start.
The plans, shaped by Silicon Valley billionaires who backed Trump’s election bid, aim to ensure the U.S. develops the technology faster and more comprehensively than rivals. They also state it will not involve “Woke AI.”
The Independent also reported that YouTube, owned by Google, agreed this week to pay $24.5 million to settle a lawsuit from Trump over his suspension after the January 6 riot.
Trump has dismissed scrutiny of his mental acuity for years. He has said he is a “stable genius,” and has boasted about acing simple cognitive tests. In June he alleged that Biden had “suffered from serious cognitive decline” for years.
