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| - Fact Check: Know the truth behind Google's 'self-driving' bicycle
A video of a "self-driving" bicycle passing through the roads of the city is viral on social media with the claim that it is a revolution in cycle invention by the American tech giant Google. India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that the claim is misleading.
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India Today Fact Check
This is a four-year-old spoof video developed by the special effects team of Google Netherlands. The video was released on March 31, 2016, the eve of April Fool's Day.
A futuristic mode of transport is just around the corner if a recent online claim is to be believed. A video of a "self-driving" bicycle passing through the roads of the city is viral on social media with the claim that it is a revolution in cycle invention by the American tech giant Google.
In the one-minute 54-seconds video, children and young people can be seen safely navigating through the city of Amsterdam on a self-driving cycle that picks you up from where you are once you give a pickup request via a mobile application.
The caption to one such video reads, "Google self-driving smart bicycle! Revolution in cycle innovation!"
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that the claim is misleading. The viral video is, in fact, an April fool's video created by the special effects team of Google in the year 2016.
Similar claims were also viral in 2020.
The archived versions of similar posts can be seen here, here and here.
AFWA probe
When we did a keyword search on the internet, we couldn't find any report on Google introducing a self-driving bicycle in the market. However, we found the video in question uploaded on the official YouTube channel of Google Nederland (Netherlands) on March 31, 2016, the eve of April Fool's Day. At the end of the video, we also noticed the text "Only available on April 1st" appearing on the screen.
The description of the video titled, "Introducing the self-driving bicycle in The Netherlands" read, "This spring, Google is introducing the self-driving bicycle in Amsterdam, the world's premier cycling city. The Dutch cycle more than any other nation in the world, almost 900 kilometres per year per person, amounting to over 15 billion kilometres annually. The self-driving bicycle enables safe navigation through the city for Amsterdam residents and furthers Google's ambition to improve urban mobility with technology. Google Netherlands takes enormous pride in the fact that a Dutch team worked on this innovation that will have a great impact in their home country."
However, along with this description, Google has also provided a link to another video titled, "The making of... Introducing the self-driving bicycle in the Netherlands"
This follow-up video clearly shows how the Google team made the video in question using special effects.
Here are two comparisons between the viral video and the making video by Google Netherlands.
Even in 2016, this "self-driving bike" video of Google had confused many and Snopes had debunked the claims then.
We also found a 2016 article by The Quint that confirms the viral video of the self-driving bicycle was a spoof by Google.
Hence, it is clear that the claim Google has developed a self-driving bicycle is false. The video in question was a spoof developed by the special effects team of Google in 2016.
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