Former Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer has drawn criticism online after revealing that she used an artificial intelligence assistant to suggest descriptions of her daughter for a school assignment.

According to TMZ's account of her interview with The New York Times, Mayer shared the experience while discussing Dazzle AI, her personal assistant app for phones.

She recalled a 2025 assignment in which a teacher asked for three descriptions highlighting what made her nine-year-old daughter special. Mayer said she struggled to think of an answer and turned to the app, which suggested "empathetic," "creative" and "animal lover." The anecdote prompted criticism on social media, with some users questioning why she needed AI assistance for such a personal task.

Others questioned whether the account had been exaggerated to attract attention. The reactions reflected users' interpretations of the anecdote rather than established information about her relationship with her daughter. Mayer led Yahoo from 2012 to 2017.