• The claim that Google plans to release up to 64 million bacteria-carrying mosquitoes in Florida and California remains under review.
• The reports are linked to Debug, a Google-backed project that releases sterile male mosquitoes to reduce mosquito populations and lower virus transmission risks.
• Google submitted applications to the EPA requesting approval to release 96 million mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia bacteria in New Jersey, California, and Florida between 2026 and 2028.
• Mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia can prevent eggs from hatching after mating with wild females, helping control mosquito populations.
• The bacteria do not harm humans or animals, and scientists consider the environmental risks to be very low.
• The EPA had not yet approved the proposed releases, so the claim remains unconfirmed.
Viral Claim Links Google to Large-Scale Mosquito Release in the U.S.
In May and June 2026, an online claim (now archived) stated that technology giant Google planned to release as many as 64 million bacteria-carrying mosquitoes in Florida and California.
Similar claims spread across platforms such as X (archived), Instagram (archived), Threads (archived), and Reddit (archived), with some posts mentioning a smaller figure of 32 million mosquitoes. Snopes readers also reached out to inquire about the accuracy of the claim.
The claims involved Google’s Debug project, which releases Wolbachia-carrying sterile male mosquitoes to reduce disease spread. Scientists do not expect the release of male mosquitoes to increase mosquito bites because males do not bite humans.
Wolbachia is a naturally occurring bacterium commonly found in insects. Wolbachia-carrying males produce eggs that usually fail to hatch when mating with uninfected females. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Wolbachia does not cause illness in humans or animals.
Google Submitted EPA Applications for Large-Scale Mosquito Releases
Records from the Federal Register show that Google submitted two applications to the U.S. The EPA received 2025 applications to release Wolbachia-carrying sterile male mosquitoes in New Jersey, Florida, and California. One proposal involved releasing 32 million mosquitoes, while the other requested authorization for 64 million.
The EPA had not yet approved either of Google’s proposed mosquito releases when this article was written. We reached out to both Google and the agency for updates on the application status and are awaiting their responses. Until more information is available, the claim remains unrated.
Google had EPA approval for Wolbachia mosquitoes in Hawaii, while another U.S. company has similar registrations valid until 2028.
Google’s Debug project sought EPA approval to release 96 million sterile male mosquitoes in New Jersey, California, and Florida from 2026 to 2028.
In the United States, companies seeking to use unregistered pesticides must obtain an experimental-use permit. The EPA classifies mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia bacteria as a type of pesticide and regulates their use.
Google’s EPA Proposal Targeted Millions of Sterile Male Mosquitoes
In June 2025, Google asked the EPA to approve the release of 64 million Wolbachia-carrying sterile male mosquitoes in California and Florida over two years.
The company planned to release 16 million mosquitoes annually in each state.
The application specifically involved the release of male Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes carrying the Wolbachia pipientis wAlbB strain. Google had previously received approval in April 2026 to release this same bacterial strain in the same mosquito species in Hawaii. However, it was unclear whether any mosquitoes had actually been released under that permit at the time of writing.
According to the CDC, Culex mosquitoes can transmit diseases such as West Nile virus, St. Louis encephalitis, and eastern equine encephalitis.
In October 2025, Google submitted a second application seeking approval to release 32 million sterilized male mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia over three years in New Jersey, Florida, and California.
Project Planned to Use Wolbachia Against Mosquito-Borne Diseases
This proposal involved the use of the wPip strain of Wolbachia in Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, a species capable of transmitting diseases including dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever.
At the time of writing, the EPA had approved two pesticide products containing Wolbachia-carrying male mosquitoes.
MosquitoMate developed a product using the wPip Wolbachia strain in Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, similar to Google’s 2025 proposal. The EPA registered the product for use throughout U.S. states, territories, and Washington, D.C., through December 31, 2028.
MosquitoMate also had another EPA-registered product that uses the wAlbB strain of Wolbachia in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Although it uses the same bacterial strain mentioned in Google’s June 2025 application, it involves a different mosquito species. The EPA also approved this product for use across the United States and will keep it registered until December 31, 2028.
Google Required Separate EPA Approval for Its Mosquito Products
Google appeared to need separate permits for its own products, despite using the same Wolbachia strains and mosquito species as MosquitoMate. The EPA had not yet responded to Snopes about the timeline for its decision.
Google’s Debug project began around 2014 and was initially developed under Verily, a research organization owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc.. According to The Guardian, Google acquired the Debug project in December 2024.
Debug aims to automate the process of breeding and releasing sterile Wolbachia-infected male mosquitoes to control mosquito populations.
The initiative had already been tested in Singapore, where Debug contributed to the National Environmental Agency’s “Project Wolbachia.” The program released male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in locations with a high risk of dengue transmission caused by mosquito bites.
A peer-reviewed New England Journal of Medicine study found that Project Wolbachia reduced dengue infection risk by over 70%.
Regulators Find Minimal Health and Environmental Risks
Experts generally consider Wolbachia-based mosquito control methods to be safe and effective. Singapore’s National Environmental Agency has described Project Wolbachia as a “safe and natural” approach. The EPA found that Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes pose no significant health or environmental risks, with accidental female releases presenting negligible risk.
At the time of writing, regulators had not yet determined whether the EPA would approve Google’s Debug project to release Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes in three U.S. states, although authorities had already registered and approved similar products elsewhere.
The technique was broadly considered safe and effective. Wolbachia does not harm humans or animals, and released male mosquitoes do not bite or feed on blood.
For additional context, Snopes had previously examined claims about whether Bill Gates supported the spread of ticks linked to alpha-gal syndrome.
Read the original article on: msn
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