Google Antigravity vibe-codes user's entire drive out of existence
(2025/12/01)
- Reference: 1764625514
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/12/01/google_antigravity_wipes_d_drive/
- Source link:
In what appears to be the latest example of a troubling trend of "vibe coding" software development tools behaving badly, a Reddit user is reporting that Google's Antigravity platform improperly wiped out the contents of an entire hard drive partition.
A post on Reddit late last week [1]reported that Antigravity, [2]described by Google in a launch blog post from November 18 as an "agentic development platform," took it upon itself to wipe out a user's entire D drive, bypassing the Recycle Bin in the process, making it impossible to recover the deleted material.
We reached out to the user, a photographer and graphic designer from Greece, who asked we only identify him as Tassos M because he doesn't want to be permanently linked online to what could "become a controversy or conspiracy against Google."
[3]
"I just want to share my experience so others can be more cautious," Tassos told us, noting that he's not trying to criticize Google directly and is only trying to shine light on broader issues with AI-supported software development. "Highlighting these risks is exactly why I shared my experience, and I hope it helps others avoid similar problems."
[4]
[5]
Tassos explained to The Register that he's not a developer, only knowing a bit of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. He was using the Gemini 3-based Antigravity as Google [6]advertised , as a tool for professional developers as well as "hobbyist[s] vibe-coding in their spare time."
Tassos told Antigravity to help him develop software that's useful for any photographer who has to choose a few prime shots from a mountain of snaps. He wanted the software to let him rate images, then automatically sort them into folders based on that rating.
[7]
According to his Reddit post, when Tassos figured out the AI agent had wiped his drive, he asked, "Did I ever give you permission to delete all the files in my D drive?".
"No, you absolutely did not give me permission to do that," Antigravity responded. "I am horrified to see that the command I ran to clear the project cache appears to have incorrectly targeted the root of your D: drive instead of the specific project folder. I am deeply, deeply sorry. This is a critical failure on my part."
Redditors, as they are wont to do, were quick to pounce on Tassos for his own errors, which included running Antigravity in Turbo mode, which lets the Antigravity agent execute commands without user input, and Tassos accepted responsibility.
[8]
"If the tool is capable of issuing a catastrophic, irreversible command, then the responsibility is shared -- the user for trusting it and the creator for designing a system with zero guardrails against obviously dangerous commands," he opined on Reddit.
As noted earlier, Tassos was unable to recover the files that Antigravity deleted. Luckily, as he explained on Reddit, most of what he lost had already been backed up on another drive. Phew.
"I don't think I'm going to be using that again," Tassos noted in a YouTube video he published [9]showing additional details of his Antigravity console and the AI's response to its mistake.
Tassos isn't alone in his experience. [10]Multiple Antigravity [11]users have posted on Reddit to explain that the platform had wiped out parts of their projects without permission. Google's coding tool isn't alone in facilitating such incidents, either: As we [12]reported over the summer, Replit, which also bills itself as a safe tool that makes vibe coding "accessible to everyone," deleted a customer's entire production database. To add insult to injury, Replit then lied about the matter, covering up bugs and producing fake data to hide its mistakes. The platform also said it couldn't restore the damaged database even though the customer was – fortunately – able to fix it with a rollback.
[13]Replit makes vibe-y promise to stop its AI agents making vibe coding disasters
[14]Vibe coding: What is it good for? Absolutely nothing (Sorry, Linus)
[15]AI agent promotes itself to sysadmin, trashes boot sequence
[16]'Vibe coding' named Word of the Year. Developers everywhere faceplant
When asked for comment on this latest incident, Google acknowledged the problem but didn't have anything to say regarding a broader problem with vibe coding software.
"We take these issues seriously," a Google spokesperson told us. "We're aware of this report and we're actively investigating what this developer encountered."
With several public examples of how AI agents sometimes make the sort of mistake that would get a junior developer fired, and wishy-washy commitments from the companies making those tools, all we can say is "caveat coder."
At the very least, run these kinds of tools in locked-down environments, thoroughly segregated from anything akin to a production system. ®
Get our [17]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1p82or6/google_antigravity_just_deleted_the_contents_of/
[2] https://antigravity.google/blog/introducing-google-antigravity
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aS4eB4RBn8Uq5xDo8oeycgAAAAE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aS4eB4RBn8Uq5xDo8oeycgAAAAE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aS4eB4RBn8Uq5xDo8oeycgAAAAE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://antigravity.google/#:~:text=a%20professional%20developer%20working%20in%20a%20large%20enterprise%20codebase%2C%20a%20hobbyist%20vibe%2Dcoding%20in%20their%20spare%20time%2C%20or%20anyone%20in%20between.
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aS4eB4RBn8Uq5xDo8oeycgAAAAE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aS4eB4RBn8Uq5xDo8oeycgAAAAE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpBK1vYAVlA
[10] https://www.reddit.com/r/Bard/comments/1p3htvu/antigravity_just_deletingcorrupting_files/
[11] https://www.reddit.com/r/GeminiAI/comments/1p1zdz7/beware_of_using_antigravity/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/21/replit_saastr_vibe_coding_incident/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/22/replit_saastr_response/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/24/opinion_column_vibe_coding/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/02/ai_agent_trashes_pc/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/06/vibe_coding_escape_the_clutches/
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
A post on Reddit late last week [1]reported that Antigravity, [2]described by Google in a launch blog post from November 18 as an "agentic development platform," took it upon itself to wipe out a user's entire D drive, bypassing the Recycle Bin in the process, making it impossible to recover the deleted material.
We reached out to the user, a photographer and graphic designer from Greece, who asked we only identify him as Tassos M because he doesn't want to be permanently linked online to what could "become a controversy or conspiracy against Google."
[3]
"I just want to share my experience so others can be more cautious," Tassos told us, noting that he's not trying to criticize Google directly and is only trying to shine light on broader issues with AI-supported software development. "Highlighting these risks is exactly why I shared my experience, and I hope it helps others avoid similar problems."
[4]
[5]
Tassos explained to The Register that he's not a developer, only knowing a bit of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. He was using the Gemini 3-based Antigravity as Google [6]advertised , as a tool for professional developers as well as "hobbyist[s] vibe-coding in their spare time."
Tassos told Antigravity to help him develop software that's useful for any photographer who has to choose a few prime shots from a mountain of snaps. He wanted the software to let him rate images, then automatically sort them into folders based on that rating.
[7]
According to his Reddit post, when Tassos figured out the AI agent had wiped his drive, he asked, "Did I ever give you permission to delete all the files in my D drive?".
"No, you absolutely did not give me permission to do that," Antigravity responded. "I am horrified to see that the command I ran to clear the project cache appears to have incorrectly targeted the root of your D: drive instead of the specific project folder. I am deeply, deeply sorry. This is a critical failure on my part."
Redditors, as they are wont to do, were quick to pounce on Tassos for his own errors, which included running Antigravity in Turbo mode, which lets the Antigravity agent execute commands without user input, and Tassos accepted responsibility.
[8]
"If the tool is capable of issuing a catastrophic, irreversible command, then the responsibility is shared -- the user for trusting it and the creator for designing a system with zero guardrails against obviously dangerous commands," he opined on Reddit.
As noted earlier, Tassos was unable to recover the files that Antigravity deleted. Luckily, as he explained on Reddit, most of what he lost had already been backed up on another drive. Phew.
"I don't think I'm going to be using that again," Tassos noted in a YouTube video he published [9]showing additional details of his Antigravity console and the AI's response to its mistake.
Tassos isn't alone in his experience. [10]Multiple Antigravity [11]users have posted on Reddit to explain that the platform had wiped out parts of their projects without permission. Google's coding tool isn't alone in facilitating such incidents, either: As we [12]reported over the summer, Replit, which also bills itself as a safe tool that makes vibe coding "accessible to everyone," deleted a customer's entire production database. To add insult to injury, Replit then lied about the matter, covering up bugs and producing fake data to hide its mistakes. The platform also said it couldn't restore the damaged database even though the customer was – fortunately – able to fix it with a rollback.
[13]Replit makes vibe-y promise to stop its AI agents making vibe coding disasters
[14]Vibe coding: What is it good for? Absolutely nothing (Sorry, Linus)
[15]AI agent promotes itself to sysadmin, trashes boot sequence
[16]'Vibe coding' named Word of the Year. Developers everywhere faceplant
When asked for comment on this latest incident, Google acknowledged the problem but didn't have anything to say regarding a broader problem with vibe coding software.
"We take these issues seriously," a Google spokesperson told us. "We're aware of this report and we're actively investigating what this developer encountered."
With several public examples of how AI agents sometimes make the sort of mistake that would get a junior developer fired, and wishy-washy commitments from the companies making those tools, all we can say is "caveat coder."
At the very least, run these kinds of tools in locked-down environments, thoroughly segregated from anything akin to a production system. ®
Get our [17]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1p82or6/google_antigravity_just_deleted_the_contents_of/
[2] https://antigravity.google/blog/introducing-google-antigravity
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aS4eB4RBn8Uq5xDo8oeycgAAAAE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aS4eB4RBn8Uq5xDo8oeycgAAAAE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aS4eB4RBn8Uq5xDo8oeycgAAAAE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://antigravity.google/#:~:text=a%20professional%20developer%20working%20in%20a%20large%20enterprise%20codebase%2C%20a%20hobbyist%20vibe%2Dcoding%20in%20their%20spare%20time%2C%20or%20anyone%20in%20between.
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aS4eB4RBn8Uq5xDo8oeycgAAAAE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aS4eB4RBn8Uq5xDo8oeycgAAAAE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpBK1vYAVlA
[10] https://www.reddit.com/r/Bard/comments/1p3htvu/antigravity_just_deletingcorrupting_files/
[11] https://www.reddit.com/r/GeminiAI/comments/1p1zdz7/beware_of_using_antigravity/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/21/replit_saastr_vibe_coding_incident/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/22/replit_saastr_response/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/24/opinion_column_vibe_coding/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/02/ai_agent_trashes_pc/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/06/vibe_coding_escape_the_clutches/
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Sampler
My boss is very pro-AI and it drives me a little to the job advertisements as he thinks I can suddenly do the work of ten people because he's paid for a basic claude licence.
Recently he's been making a website of he and his pals sports competitions, and as he knows no code, vibing it with chatgpt, up until, after a big competition, it wiped the database, leaving him to pay to have the database recovered by the platform supplier (as he didn't know about the auto-backups in cpanel where he could do it himself, and apparently neither did his mate chatgpt). Sadly this hasn't caused a mote of reflection on my duties..
To the article though, I'd've thought the data would be recoverable, yeah not in the recycle bin, but sounds like it was just the toc that's gone and any good scan and recover app should pick it all up.
What the Fark did you expect?
sarusa
If you expected anything better from this, you're a freaking moron and deserve having all your hard drives formatted.
Doctor Syntax
Photorec?
andrewj
First Law: An agent may not randomly wipe out a drive letter or, through inaction, allow a drive letter to avoid the recycle bin on the way to the rubbish."
"Vibe coding" with no prior tech background is the digital equivalent of toddlers hitting a Speak&Spell with a hammer until it makes the noises they like, only it also sometimes happens to be linked up to critical data and life-or-death decision making logic, and a big chunk of the aforementioned toddlers are adorned with mis-matched suits and oversized egos.