Google AI presents April Fools' prank about Welsh roundabouts as factual news
A Welsh journalist's five-year-old April Fools' Day prank claiming his town set a record for roundabouts was presented as fact by Google's AI Overview tool in 2025. The AI quoted the fabricated figures and fake resident quotes, demonstrating the system's inability to distinguish between intentional satire and real news, particularly when the source lacked the original disclaimer.
What happened
Journalist Ben Black published an April Fools' Day story on 1 April 2020 on his community news site Cwmbran Life claiming that Cwmbran had set a Guinness World Record for having the most roundabouts per square kilometre. Black added a disclaimer that afternoon clarifying it was an April Fools' prank.
On 1 April 2025, five years later, Black searched for his old story and found it being presented by Google's AI Overview tool as factual information, with the AI quoting the made-up calculations and fake resident quotes from the article. The original story had been republished by a larger national news website without Black's permission, and despite his efforts to have it removed, it remained online.
Reported impact
Black said he was 'shocked' and 'worried' to find the false information being used by Google's AI tool and presented as real information.
Index analysis
The AI Overview pulled information from a republication of the story that did not include Black's April Fools' Day disclaimer, even though he had added one to the original article on the day of publication. AI systems do not have the ability to understand the difference between intentionally fictional content and factual reporting.
Classification
Sources and evidence
Sources not yet published
This record was researched and written by the Index from original reporting. Its sources are still being verified by an editor, and they are listed here once that check is complete. Until then the record carries no reviewer.