Google Imagines Founding Fathers Using AI Tools

Google's new commercial asks what if the Founding Fathers had Google Workspace, depicting Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin collaborating via Google Docs, Meet, and Calendar to draft the Declaration of Independence. Gemini takes meeting notes, AI helps design the national seal, and the founders consult the chatbot before rejecting King George III's document access request. Reaction has been mixed. YouTube and Instagram comments skew positive, while Bluesky users called it cringey and tone deaf, with historian Angus Johnston noting it's impossible to make AI seem useful for political writing even in a comedic fantasy. Unlike a previous controversial Gemini ad, this one stops short of suggesting AI should improve the Declaration's actual text.