Google AI Search suffers glitch after word 'disregard' exposes its dual-personality, now fixed

On May 22, for a brief period, Google Search could be broken by a single search. Once you searched for the word disregard, Google's AI Search mode would not give you a definition, and instead think that you are talking to it.

In Short

• ”Disregard” breaks Google AI Search
• AI mode thinks you are talking to it
• Bug is now fixed

During Google I/O 2026 earlier this week, the company announced that it was changing Google Search – the biggest change ever since it was created 25 years ago. Google is now doubling down on its AI mode for Search. But it seems that there was a catch. Googling the word ‘disregard’ almost broke the search engine.

On May 22, users on X spotted that if they googled the word ‘disregard’ in Google Search, the AI – which now takes the majority of the screen – it would fail to give you the result you wanted.

What was the ‘disregard Google’ glitch?

When a person tried searching disregard on Google, the AI mode would give you a reply such as, “Message received. How can I help you today?” That is, instead of giving you the meaning of the word, the AI would think that you were instructing it to “disregard” the conversation literally.

The situation reached a point that even Merriam-Webster, known for its dictionaries, decided to take a dig on Google. The publisher wrote, “disregard | verb | to pay no attention to : treat as unworthy of regard or notice.”

As per reports, disregard was not the only word that could confuse the AI. Other terms that got a similar response included, “dismiss”, “ignore”, “skip”, “start”, “stop” and “quit.”

Though keep in mind that the list of weblinks remained in the search results, albeit lower down the webpage.

Google fixes bug, AI Search no more broken

Following posts on social media about this glitch, Google accepted that the issue came from the AI mode. The company said in a statement to USA Today, that AI Overviews were “misinterpreting some action-related queries.”

At the time of writing, the glitch seems to have been fixed. Now, when you search for the words like disregard or skip, the AI mode gives you the definition of the terms, instead of thinking that you are having a conversion.

Though the damage was done. Some users found this to be the right example to express their views on Google prioritising AI mode over traditional search. One user wrote, “Disregard user intent long enough, and users will start disregarding your product. Google Search feels dangerously close to that line.”

AI mode was originally added to Google Search last year. With the latest update, Google states that AI mode is going to act more like a personal assistant, improve booking functions and sync with Gmail, Google Photos and Calendar.

- Ends