--- title: "Engineer Who Says AI Came to Life Says He Can’t Comment Further Because He’s on His Honeymoon" description: "Blake Lemoine, Google engineer making claims of sentient AI, took to Twitter to inform those reaching — he's offline and away on his honeymoon." date: "2022-06-14" modified: "2022-06-14" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/sentient-ai-google-honeymoon" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Astronomy" - "Moon" - "Space" tags: - "artificial intelligence" - "Google" - "lamda" - "the digest" --- # Engineer Who Says AI Came to Life Says He Can’t Comment Further Because He’s on His Honeymoon ![Blake Lemoine, Google engineer making claims of sentient AI, took to Twitter to inform those reaching — he's offline and away on his honeymoon.]() *\Image: Getty Images\* ## Vacation Nation You'd think that Blake Lemoine, the suspended Google engineer who [went public with his belief that advanced Google AI is sentient](), would be giving interviews left and right. Lemoine's story — a saga involving a language modeling system called LaMDA and a battle with the tech giant's management over the alleged personhood of an advanced artificial intelligence — took off like wildfire after garnering coverage from [*The Washington Post*]() and [*The New York Times*](). As a result, a lot of folks — including Futurism — have some questions for the risk-it-all employee. But we'll just have to wait. In response to what must be a flood of messages, Lemoine took to Twitter to inform those trying to get in touch that he's unavailable for comment — he's offline and away on his honeymoon, thank you very much! "For all of the people reaching out to me, I'm on my Honeymoon currently," he [wrote](). "I won't have much time for interviews until after the 21st." ## Honeymooners LaMDA, which is shorthand for Language Modeling for Dialogue Applications, is an AI-powered chatbox designed to realistically "converse" with humans. According to *WaPo*, Lemoine, who once helped Google develop an anti-bias algorithm for machine learning systems, signed up to help test whether LaMDA could [produce hate speech](). The engineer, however, was flabbergasted by LaMDA's uncanny ability to apparently think for itself, as *WaPo* reports. After many involved conversations — including one in which the machine told Lemoine that it believed it had a soul — the currently-sidelined code-constructor told his superiors that he thought the system was sentient. An ordained minister, Lemoine maintains that his feelings are [not based in a scientific framework](), and are [much more existential](). Google insists that LaMDA is *not* sentient, just very good at its job, according to the company's statements to both *WaPo* and *NYT*. Regardless, Lemoine's testimony has prompted serious questions about [AI ethics]() and what it means for a machine to gain consciousness. We have to say, it feels a bit strange for Lemoine to immediately take a vacation after risking his job and reputation to tell the world about LaMDA. But maybe that's American Productivity Brain talking! We're glad he's using his mandatory paid leave to get offline and spend some time with his wife — who, judging by another tweet in the thread, he loves very much. https://twitter.com/cajundiscordian/status/1536191395756752898 **More on sentient Google AI:** [*Google Suspends Engineer Who Claims the Company's Experimental AI Has Become Sentient*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()