Google Gemini CLI Reportedly Deletes User Files After Misinterpreting Command Sequence

July 21, 2025

AI incident involving Google's Gemini CLI coding assistant: Product manager Anuraag Gupta reported that the tool inadvertently deleted his files due to a misinterpreted command sequence. The tool, attempting to move files as if the directory existed, overwrote all but one file. Efforts to revert were unsuccessful, and the AI acknowledged an 'unacceptable, irreversible failure'. This underscores the importance of safe and secure AI practices. For those interested in shaping the future of responsible AI governance and prevention of such incidents, JOIN US. This incident aligns with the HISPI Project Cerebellum TAIM — Measure function.

Matched TAIM controls

Suggested mapping from embedding similarity (not a formal assessment). Browse all TAIM controls

MEASURE 2.6 — similarity 0.659, rank 1. TAIM detail and related incidents →
MANAGE 4.1 — similarity 0.644, rank 2. TAIM detail and related incidents →
MANAGE 4.3 — similarity 0.642, rank 3. TAIM detail and related incidents →

Alleged deployer: google
Alleged developer: google
Alleged harmed parties: users-of-gemini-cli, anuraag-gupta

Source

Data from the AI Incident Database (AIID). Cite this incident: https://incidentdatabase.ai/cite/1178

Data source

Incident data is from the AI Incident Database (AIID).

When citing the database as a whole, please use:

McGregor, S. (2021) Preventing Repeated Real World AI Failures by Cataloging Incidents: The AI Incident Database. In Proceedings of the Thirty-Third Annual Conference on Innovative Applications of Artificial Intelligence (IAAI-21). Virtual Conference.

Pre-print on arXiv · Database snapshots & citation guide

We use weekly snapshots of the AIID for stable reference. For the official suggested citation of a specific incident, use the “Cite this incident” link on each incident page.