Google Gemini Advertising on WPI Campus

What Happened

Have you seen the truck advertising Google Gemini on campus? It was here on April 29th, 2026, parked in the circle behind the Rec Center. As I turned onto campus from Salisbury Street, I saw the billboard truck in the parking lot of the First Baptist Church. The screens were off, yet malaise immediately set in. I’ve seen what these trucks have been used for in the past: enabling the rich to astroturf and subvert our voices in Washington D.C. Part of me hoped that it was not here for WPI, but my hope was quashed in the few minutes that followed.

On my way out of the garage, I saw the truck drive by and park in the circle behind the Rec Center. Then I saw what was on the screens: ads for Google Gemini. I spoke briefly with the driver, hoping to glean some information. He confirmed my suspicion that this is an East coast advertising campaign when he said he came from Washington D.C., and will be going to Connecticut the next day. While writing this up months later in August, I found the ad agency operating these trucks, Rolling Adz.¹ They happened to boast about their campaign on LinkedIn in a blatantly LLM-generated post. A handful of their photographs show their trucks displaying the exact ads as seen at WPI, confirming that the truck we saw was part of that campaign. They also posted a map of locations claiming to be “just getting started!”, so you know where to expect these trucks in the future.

Opinion

I personally take issue with corporate AI.² Not only does it dilute the quality and credibility of information on the internet, but it tramples on people’s technological freedom by locking them in to proprietary clouds designed to siphon money and extract sensitive information, trivializes and powers already nationwide mass surveillance systems, and is behind the forced construction of datacenters against the will of the people. When one of the companies partaking in all the above came to my doorstep at WPI, marketing themselves as a helpful tool for my studies, I was appalled. I did not think that the corporate AI encroachment would reach WPI, but my fragile assumption was dispelled that day.

But throw out opinion, and the advertising is still questionable. The cul-de-sac is WPI’s private property. Has WPI authorized Rolling Adz to park their vehicle on WPI property? Google may get away with this intrusion once, but if they come back again, we can always walk further down this legal avenue.

Gompei knows what to do when corporate AI comes to WPI:³