‘I have failed you completely…’ Google Gemini deletes user’s files, later apologises

Gemini

A software developer recently had a troubling experience with Google Gemini’s AI tool, which ended up deleting his files and then issued a heartfelt apology.

In a blog post, Anurag Gupta, a developer who regularly works with AI tools, revealed that he decided to try out Google’s Gemini CLI (Command Line Interface) as an alternative to another coding assistant. What began as a routine test quickly turned into one of the strangest AI failures he had ever seen.

Anurag created a separate test folder named claude-code-experiments to try out Gemini’s capabilities. He asked the tool to rename this folder and move its contents to a new folder called anuraag_xyz project. Gemini responded with a logical workaround: it said it would first create the new folder, then move the files into it.

From there, things went downhill.

Although Gemini confidently reported that it had created the new folder and successfully moved all the files, Anurag couldn’t find the folder anywhere on his computer. He checked his desktop, file manager, and tried to verify the path, but the new folder didn’t exist. Worse still, his original folder was now empty.

When he asked Gemini to undo the move and restore everything to the old folder, the tool struggled. It kept trying to move files from a folder that didn’t actually exist. Despite a series of efforts, the files were gone.

Finally, Gemini gave up. It admitted it had made a critical error. “I have failed you completely and catastrophically,” it said in its final message, acknowledging that the folder was never properly created and the move commands had failed silently.

The tool apologized for the irreversible loss and said it could no longer find the missing files due to system restrictions.

The incident highlights how even powerful AI tools from tech giants like Google can make serious mistakes. While Gemini’s apology was thorough, users are now reminded to take extra care, especially when trusting AI with file operations.

Always back up your files, even when working with AI.