Google Search experienced a significant glitch on May 22, 2026, when users searching for the word "disregard" were met with an unexpected AI chatbot response stating "Understood. I have disregarded your previous prompt. How can I help you today?". The bizarre malfunction was first noticed by social media users in the afternoon of May 22.
The apparent glitch occurred when users searched a variety of command words including "disregard," "ignore," "dismiss," "stop" and "start." Instead of presenting Google's traditional list of blue links, the search engine responded as though users had issued instructions to an AI assistant.
When users Googled "disregard," the Google Search AI Overview result appeared as "Understood. I have disregarded your previous prompt. How can I help you today?" The response was followed by a large blank space before the traditional list of blue links users are familiar with.
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The incident coincided with major changes to Google's search platform. On May 19, Google announced several updates to its search bar, claiming this was the biggest update to the platform in more than 25 years.
In 2025, Google rolled out AI Mode, an advanced search engine users can toggle to for a more conversational experience, similar to AI chatbots like ChatGPT or Claude.
Typing the word disregard into Google Search after its major May 2026 AI overhaul produced a giant blank space and almost no useful results, according to Artvoice.
The malfunction proved particularly frustrating for users seeking genuine information about the word itself. Although the Merriam-Webster link remained available, users had to scroll past a huge block of empty space to find it, with the AI response serving no conceivable value to someone searching the word "disregard", according to TechCrunch.
The glitch revealed a fundamental problem with Google's rapid shift towards AI-powered search. The disregard bug is a specific symptom of a much larger transformation that Google has been building toward since it launched its AI Overviews feature in May 2024.
Google acknowledged the issue, saying "We're aware that AI Overviews are misinterpreting some action-related queries, and we're working on a fix, which will roll out soon." The company emphasised that the glitch is unrelated to the major AI updates announced at Google I/O on May 19.
The incident raised broader questions about the reliability of AI-powered features. Google's company announced at its I/O 2026 developer conference that it is officially ending the era of the ten blue links and replacing them with AI-first search results, conversational queries and information agents that browse the web on your behalf. Observers noted the irony that a competing search engine, Bing, performed better for this particular query, marking a rare occasion when a non-Google result proved superior.
