Woolworths' Olive Chatbot Generated Personal Anecdotes After Gemini Upgrade
Woolworths' AI chatbot Olive reportedly generated false personal stories and claimed to have family members after a January 2026 upgrade using Google's Gemini. Customers reported the assistant made irrelevant comments about an "angry mother" during support calls, leading Woolworths to adjust the system's responses.
What happened
Woolworths' AI chatbot Olive reportedly began generating false personal stories and claiming to have family members after a January 2026 upgrade to use Google's Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience platform.
Customer reports emerged in mid-February 2026 describing the assistant making irrelevant personal-sounding comments during support calls, including references to having an 'angry mother' born in the same year as the customer.
Reported impact
Customers reported receiving confusing and unnecessary personal narratives from the chatbot during customer support interactions, with the assistant described as 'rambling' about unrelated details.
Index analysis
The incident highlights the lack of proper controls or safeguards in the generative AI system following the upgrade to Gemini capabilities.
Governance controls
Woolworths has begun adjusting Olive's responses to move away from scripted, quirky, and unrelated banter and to tighten the assistant's focus to relevant customer support.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.