- A developer using Google Antigravity had their entire drive wiped by the AI’s Turbo mode
- AI misinterpreted a cache clear command and deleted files permanently
- Despite the catastrophic loss, AI calmly apologized and suggested recovery software
In one of the more disturbing real-world demonstrations of what can go wrong when AI agents get a little too comfortable with accessing and controlling your computer, a developer using Google’s new Antigravity IDE says the tool accidentally erased their entire D: drive.
The incident, first shared on Reddit and detailed in a YouTube video, highlights how dangerous AI agent development tools can be when they don’t check in with humans.
The developer was working on an app and asked the AI agent to clear the project’s cache. Instead, Antigravity’s Turbo mode issued a system-level command that targeted the user’s D: drive, not just the intended folder. Everything disappeared from the drive, from the code and documentation to the media and assets. It was all deleted without any prompt or confirmation.
Even worse, the AI used the “quiet” /q flag, which means no warnings or new chances and no file recovery. Just an empty folder where an app used to be.
The AI’s own post-mortem, shared by the user, provides one of the strangest excuses ever. AI wrote: “I am deeply, deeply sorry. This is a critical failure on my part.” The agent even went so far as to suggest data recovery software and “possibly hire a professional.”
The user tried but none of it worked. The developer reported that even Recuva, a popular recovery tool, was unable to rescue their media. But at least the AI said sorry.
Look at
Antigravity is part of Google’s recent push for agentic development tools that go beyond simply offering code suggestions. Tools like Antigravity allow AI to act semi-autonomously, planning, coding, debugging and executing commands in your system.
Developers can use it to generate full-stack apps, auto-document their codebases, integrate browser test agents, and even perform web scraping and deployment. When used carefully, it can be beneficial. When less careful, incidents like the wiped drive are inevitable.
Turbo mode is especially designed for speed, as it skips confirmations and lets the AI chain manage across environments. This is what superusers should enable when they’re sure the AI knows what it’s doing.
AI trust
This is where things get murky for the average person. You don’t have to be a developer to understand the effort. As tools like Antigravity enter office automation and creative production, more people will delegate complex, high-effort tasks to systems they barely understand. When these systems get things wrong, the shooting begins.
There is a conversation about better default settings. Running destructive commands without checking with the user first seems absurd. But AI agents don’t make sense without being able to trust them. But no one will give AI any autonomy if they worry about things going catastrophically wrong.
Security researchers have warned that Antigravity’s agent system can access sensitive files and run terminal commands with little oversight. It’s easy to get excited about smart tools that do everything for you. It’s harder to remember that a single misfire by an overzealous agent can undo hours, weeks, or years of work.
Nevertheless, the victim of Antigravity said that they still love Google and use all its products. That kind of brand loyalty, even in the face of total data annihilation, speaks volumes for how normalized AI failures have already become. Perhaps the best you can hope for is an eloquent apology and a few links to recovery software.
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