Google’s new commercial is a Declaration of Independence written with the help of artificial intelligence

Two hundred and fifty years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, asks a new ad from Google: What if the founding fathers had access to Google Workspace?

Under the tagline “Group project, but make it 1776,” the ad depicts a mostly invisible Thomas Jefferson in the middle of a draft as he receives a nagging text from Ben Franklin, leading to a very Google-centric collaborative process. Edits are suggested in Google Docs, a meeting is scheduled in Google Calendar and held remotely via Google Meet (with each participant apparently turning off their camera?), and then the whole thing is completed with electronic signatures; show fireworks.

Of course, since this is an ad for a tech company in 2026, artificial intelligence has a role to play. The fictional founders use Google’s ‘help me visualize’ AI tool to try different animals on the national seal, Gemini takes notes on a meeting, and the founders also ask a chatbot for advice before turning down King George III’s request for access to a document.

It’s all very tongue-in-cheek (at one point Sam Adams asks, “Can we solve this over a beer?”), and the AI ​​evangelism is relatively low-key compared to many other recent announcements. And in contrast that infamous Google commercial in which a father uses Gemini to write a fan letter for his daughter, this one eschews any suggestion that the actual text of the Declaration of Independence will be enhanced by artificial intelligence. Perhaps the most AI-driven element of the ad is the footage itself, which I think has the odd sheen of an AI-generated video.

While the viewer is commenting YouTube and Instagram seem mostly positive, you might not be surprised to learn that the response to Bluesky has been much more critical. Posters declared the commercial “creepy” and “incredibly tone-deaf” and the AI ​​angle was the biggest target – even with so many users including historian Angus Johnstonnoted that “it’s amazing how little AI there really is.”

“Even in a corny science fiction joke, it’s impossible to argue that artificial intelligence is a useful tool for political organization, writing, or human cooperation,” Johnston said.