No, Google isn’t shutting down Gmail, but if you’re one of the users fooled by fake news, you’re not alone.
A fake press release made the rounds on social media Thursday after being posted on X (formerly Twitter) and quickly went viral.
“After years of connecting millions of people around the world, enabling seamless communications and fostering countless connections, Gmail’s journey is coming to an end,” he said false document it reads, accompanied by the Google logo and standard Google document formatting. “The decision to close Gmail was made with careful consideration of the evolving digital landscape and our commitment to providing innovative, high-quality solutions that meet the needs of our users.”
Related: Google is about to delete inactive accounts. Here’s how to avoid a huge Gmail bounce rate.
The post stated that Gmail will end on August 1, 2024 and that from that date emails can no longer be sent, received or stored on the Gmail platform.
“After this date, Gmail accounts will become inaccessible,” the post reads.
Naturally, X users began to panic. In the United States, Gmail has a 53% market share, according to Forbes, and more than 1.8 billion active users send and receive approximately 333 billion emails per day.
I don’t know if the news about Gmail is accurate, but watch me go crazy, sit down today and start the backup process for my entire email account
— z (@bus_kerdou) February 23, 2024
This is crazy, I spend my whole life with it #Gmail https://t.co/xjxUg6cnOa pic.twitter.com/XhkOhxyMt0
— Alibek Aliev (@Itsalibek) February 22, 2024
Okay, okay, this can’t possibly be true. Google will shut down Gmail on August 1st. You will still be able to access and download your emails until then, but after that they will no longer be available. No more Gmail! #RIPGmail ? pic.twitter.com/AwKWN9AnMJ
— XeVier (@XeVierTech) February 22, 2024
tears up Gmail so sad I cry???? pic.twitter.com/1ixqqWKzFB
— Nate? (@pxl0101) February 22, 2024
The original fake post is believed to have come from Chris Bakke, a product manager for X, whose company Laskie was acquired by then-Twitter in 2021.
In a post on the platform, Bakke satirically joked that he was the senior vice president of product at Google and that CEO Sundar Pichai had asked him to fire “the entire Google Gemini team,” but that he had misinterpreted it as ” the entire Google Gmail team,” and so he created a fake document as part of his prank.
I’m the senior vice president of product at Google ($28.8 million TC).
Last night, Sundar asked me to “fire the entire Gemini team”.
I misread his message (terrible service at my 7br 11bath cabin in Park City) and accidentally fired the entire Gmail team.
Gmail…Gemini.
Look that… pic.twitter.com/CBCWAhoNCT
— Chris Bakke (@ChrisJBakke) February 22, 2024
“Look at it quickly without your glasses when you’re at 7 margaritas by the fire pit on a Wednesday, and you’d make the same mistake. I mean, you understand how confusing it is, right,” he joked on the platform. “Anyway, I’m following the decision. Gmail is gone.”
Bakke’s original post has since garnered over 2.2 million views.
The trolling came just hours after Google announced it would suspend the release of its Gemini AI tool after sweeping inaccuracies were found in its use of the text-to-image conversion software to render photos of some historical figures.
X placed a community note on Bakke’s post informing users that the document is, in fact, a fake.
Related: Google wants its workers to return to the office: report
“This is a satirical post that is spreading rapidly and is confused by many who believe it is real,” the community note reads. “It’s not. Google hasn’t announced any changes to Gmail.”
Google also clarified things in a post on the company’s official account, stressing that Gmail isn’t going anywhere.
Gmail is here to stay.
—Gmail (@gmail) February 22, 2024