Google Apologizes for Offensive Notification Related to BAFTA Awards

Google has expressed regret over a notification that included a racial slur regarding the recent BAFTA film awards controversy. The tech company asserts that the issue is not due to its AI systems.

According to reports, the notification was linked to a Hollywood Reporter article discussing the BAFTA Tourette’s controversy. It had a headline stating, “How Tourette’s Fallout Unfolded at the BAFTA Film Awards,” but the accompanying text encouraging users to “see more” used the N-word, which understandably shocked those who received it.

An Instagram user named Danny Price was one of the first to highlight the alarming notification. She shared it on social media, expressing her outrage and noting the inappropriate timing during Black History Month. Her post quickly gained attention but wasn’t widely shared since it featured a screenshot of the original alert.

A spokesperson from Google issued a formal apology for the incident, stating, “We deeply regret this mistake. We have deleted the offensive notice and are working to prevent it from happening again.”

Google provided further insight into the technical error behind the notification. They clarified that while the mistake was linked to technology, it wasn’t a fault of their AI system. Apparently, Google’s systems misidentified euphemisms for offensive terms on certain web pages and mistakenly incorporated those terms into the notification text. The company emphasized, “AI was not involved in this system error,” pointing out that the inappropriate content was spread because the safety filter had malfunctioned.

This isn’t an isolated incident in the tech world; other major companies have grappled with similar issues related to automated news notifications. For example, Apple stopped using AI-generated news alerts in 2025 after facing several serious errors, including one that inaccurately reported the death of a suspect involved in a notable case.