Google updates Gemini to improve mental health responses

Google is updating Gemini to handle mental health-related conversations more safely, including one-touch crisis hotline access for suicide or self-harm cases.

A redesigned help module will guide users with other mental health concerns to appropriate resources, while model training aims to avoid reinforcing harmful beliefs.

Google also added stronger protections for younger users and said Gemini should be less likely to produce unsafe or validating responses.

Through Google.org, the company will provide $30 million over three years to expand hotline capacity and support training tools such as ReflexAI's Prepare.