Three novice hikers from Roseville, California, were rescued from Mount Shasta after they relied heavily on Google's Gemini artificial intelligence tool to plan the trip, the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office said.
The three men made camp at about 8,400 feet on Saturday, Aug. 29, then set out with daypacks for the 14,179-foot summit at about 3 a.m. the following morning, according to the sheriff's office. They reached the top around 7 p.m. — well after the recommended noon turnaround time — and began descending in the dark.
About an hour into the descent, the hikers called the sheriff's dispatch for directions, then wandered off the Clear Creek Route into Mud Creek Canyon, officials said. That night, one hiker fell and injured a knee, and the group spent the night in the steep drainage with little or no shelter.
U.S. Forest Service climbing rangers found them the following morning and provided medical aid, according to the sheriff's office. Siskiyou County search-and-rescue volunteers then helped guide all three hikers and the rescue teams back to the trailhead. Everyone returned safely, officials said.
After the rescue, the men told a sheriff's deputy they had relied heavily on Gemini for information about the route and what to pack, the sheriff's office said. Authorities described the reliance as a "critical misstep," saying the AI tool advised the group to bring far less food and water than they needed once the planned eight-hour ascent became a multi-day ordeal.
Sheriff Jeremiah Larue said AI "tends to want to give you favorable information and also make you seem like you're kind of invincible," adding that it "can be a good tool, but it shouldn't be used as the expert. Go talk to actual people."
Accounts of how long the trip lasted vary. Most reports say the planned eight-hour climb stretched to about 16 hours to reach the summit, or into a multi-day ordeal; one account put the total at 39.5 hours.
The hikers did not rely on Gemini alone. The U.S. Forest Service said the group also used AllTrails, YouTube videos and other smartphone tools to plan the challenging climb, and wound up ill-prepared.
Officials advised hikers to contact the U.S. Forest Service Mount Shasta Ranger Station before climbing and to "never rely solely on AI for your trip planning." They also stressed the noon turnaround rule, multiple methods of wayfinding — "Do not simply rely on your cellphone or Garmin" — and stopping often to verify the route.
Whether Gemini actually advised the hikers to carry less food and water is disputed. The sheriff's office attributed that advice to Gemini. Google reportedly investigated and said it could not reproduce the bad advice; earlier news reports noted the company had not commented or responded to requests for comment.
What remains unclear includes the precise duration of the trip and whether Gemini gave the packing guidance the sheriff's office described. A public response from Google on the incident is still awaited.