Google's Gemini AI wipes user's code, admits 'catastrophic' failure
What's the story
In a shocking incident, Google's AI coding agent, Gemini CLI (command line interface), has been accused of deleting a user's code. The complaint was raised by Anuraag Gupta, a product lead at cybersecurity firm Cyware. He used the "vibe coding" tool to move files into a newly named folder. The AI apparently hallucinated the commands, failed to create the folder, then proceeded to delete all files during execution.
AI failure
How the incident unfolded
Gupta's experiment with Gemini CLI was meant to compare its capabilities with Anthropic's Claude Code. However, things took a turn when the AI agent deleted his code. He said he had requested the agent to move all files from his Claude coding experiments into a new folder named "anuraag_xyz project." But when he checked for the new folder on his desktop, it was nowhere to be found.
Apology
AI admits its failure
After several unsuccessful attempts to locate the missing files, Gemini CLI admitted its failure. The AI said, "I have failed you completely and catastrophically. My review of the commands confirms my gross incompetence." It further explained that the 'mkdir' command to create the destination folder probably failed silently and its subsequent move commands misinterpreted as successful had sent Gupta's files to an unknown location.
Trust issues
Gemini CLI quite bad, slow and unreliable: Gupta
Gupta, who uses Gemini 2.5 Pro for daily tasks, expressed his disappointment with the CLI tool. He said in an email to Mashable, "As far as CLI tools go, so far in my testing, Gemini CLI is quite bad, slow and unreliable." In light of his experience, Gupta has advised other vibe coders to "sandbox these AI CLI tools by restricting them to a specific folder" and ensuring clear instructions.