Woolworths tones down its 'obnoxious' AI agent

February 2026 — Woolworths has rewritten part of its customer service chatbot after shoppers said it was trying too hard to sound human. Here's what launched, what it cost, and what went wrong.

Cost and outcome (as of Feb. 27, 2026)

Fix: Woolworths "recently removed this particular scripting," the birthday responses. (BBC)
Customer view: feedback has been "very positive," Woolworths says; complaints on Reddit and X called the bot "obnoxious." (BBC)
Cost: not disclosed.

What launched

Olive first launched in November 2018, built by WooliesX, Woolworths' digital arm, iTnews reported. It answers questions and sorts out problems, and it already used some Google services, such as helping customers find products in aisles.

In January 2026, Woolworths said it would add agentic AI to the "seven-year-old Olive chatbot," using Google Cloud's newly launched Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience. Google unveiled the product at the National Retail Federation's trade show in the U.S.

"As the first Australian retailer to partner with Google's agentic platform, we are evolving our digital shopping assistant Olive into an intuitive partner that won't just answer questions, but actually anticipates your needs," said Amanda Bardwell, Woolworths Group's managing director and CEO.

The new features, due to start in Australia "later this year," include meal planning and adding suggested items to a customer's online basket, wrote Uri Gal, a University of Sydney professor, for The Conversation. Woolworths says Olive will not complete purchases automatically. Customers will still approve and pay.

What customers said

In February, the BBC reported complaints that Olive kept claiming to be human and talked about its mother. Some users called the bot "obnoxious" and its small talk "aggravating."

"The fake banter made me haaaaate [sic] it," one customer wrote on Reddit. Another, who had tried to rearrange a delivery, said: "It asked me for my date of birth and when I gave it, it started rambling about how its mother was born in the same year." The same user added: "The ick cringe factor whilst wasting completely unnecessary time was enough to make me hate Olive and wish her harm."

A user on X said Olive "started talking about its memories of its mother and her angry voice" and "kept claiming to be a real person."

What Woolworths said

A Woolworths spokesperson told the BBC the birthday responses were written by a person, not generated by AI. "Olive has been around since 2018. Over this time, customer feedback for Olive has been very positive, with many noting its personality," the spokesperson said.

"A number of responses about birthdays were written for Olive by a team member several years ago as a more personal way for Olive to connect with customers. As a result of customer feedback, we recently removed this particular scripting."

The statement did not address the claims that Olive said it was a real person.

The wider picture

Around 80% of customer service leaders told Gartner they were exploring or deploying AI agents last year, but only 20% of those plans were meeting expectations, the BBC reported. In 2024, the parcel firm DPD disabled part of its chatbot after it wrote poetry and swore at customers.

Gal raised a separate concern about the upgrade: grocery data. Meal planning can reveal health conditions, he wrote. Gal also wrote that Google has stated customer data in its system is not used to train models.

What went wrong

Personality over service. Scripted human touches got in the way of simple tasks such as rearranging a delivery.
What we don't know yet: whether Olive still tells customers it is a person, how many complained, and what the Gemini upgrade costs.

Our follow-up question for Woolworths

Does Olive now tell customers plainly that it is not a person, and will the Gemini version do the same?

Later developments (added Oct. 2026)

Staff launch (April 2026): Woolworths put the Gemini-powered Olive in front of its 200,000-plus staff, iTnews reported on April 28, 2026 (iTnews).
Customer rollout (July 2026): Woolworths announced on June 29, 2026 that the new Olive, built on Google Cloud's Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience, would roll out to app customers through July, iTWire reported. We have not confirmed that the rollout is complete (iTnews; iTWire).

Sources

BBC News, Rachel Muller-Heyndyk, “'Obnoxious' AI chatbot talked about its mother, customers say,” Feb. 27, 2026. bbc.com
iTnews, Ry Crozier, “Woolworths to incorporate agentic AI into its Olive chatbot,” Jan. 12, 2026. itnews.com.au
ABC News (The Conversation), Uri Gal, “Do Woolworths shoppers want Google AI adding items to buy? We'll soon find out,” Jan. 20, 2026. abc.net.au
iTnews, Ry Crozier, “Woolworths gives agentic-powered Olive chatbot to its 200,000 staff,” Apr. 28, 2026. itnews.com.au
iTnews, Ry Crozier, “Woolworths to remake its 'Everyday' chatbot into an agentic loyalty assistant,” Jun. 29, 2026. itnews.com.au
iTWire, “Woolworths' Olive grows up, from refund bot to agentic shopping companion,” Jun. 30, 2026. itwire.com

Disclosure: [not in copy] Editor placeholder