New Google ad imagines founding fathers using AI

Google has released a new commercial depicting the Founding Fathers using Google Workspace and artificial intelligence tools to collaborate. The advertisement, published on July 4, 2026, is built around a tagline comparing the process to a group project set in 1776. It portrays a fictionalized collaboration process set two hundred and fifty years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. The ad depicts a largely unseen Thomas Jefferson mid-draft when he receives a text message from Benjamin Franklin, leading to a highly digital collaboration process. Edits are suggested in Google Docs, a meeting is scheduled in Google Calendar, and the document is finalized with e-signatures. The tongue-in-cheek commercial features historical figures working together, including a moment where Sam Adams asks if they can settle their dispute over beers.

The commercial showcases Google Workspace, Google’s productivity suite, and Gemini, the company’s AI chatbot. In the ad, the fictionalized founders use Google’s help me visualize AI tool to try out different animals on the national seal, while Gemini takes notes on their meeting. The founders also ask the chatbot for advice before declining a document access request from King George III. The AI evangelism in the advertisement is relatively discreet compared to other recent campaigns from the technology company. Unlike a previous Google commercial where a father uses Gemini to write a fan letter for his daughter, this campaign avoids suggesting that the actual text of the Declaration of Independence would be improved by AI. It also depicts attendees of a Google Meet call apparently turning their cameras off during their virtual meeting.

Public reception to the campaign has been divided across different online platforms. While viewer comments on YouTube and Instagram are mostly positive, the response on the social media platform Bluesky has been critical. Users on Bluesky characterized the commercial as “cringey” and “stunningly tone deaf”, with the AI elements serving as the primary target of criticism. Historian Angus Johnston also criticized the advertisement, noting that it is surprising how little of the depicted technology is actually AI. “Even in a corny fantasy joke, it’s impossible to make the case that AI is a useful tool for political organizing, writing, or human collaboration,” said Johnston, a historian.

Why it matters

The campaign highlights Google’s ongoing effort to integrate AI into everyday productivity workflows, while simultaneously illustrating the polarized public reception to AI-themed marketing content.