AI won't stop thinking? The story of Gemini caught in an 'infinite loop'

Imagine this: You ask a smart assistant to “summarize this project report.” But instead, the assistant says, “Hmm, how should I handle the introduction? Oh, wait! I should include this, too. No, let me rethink that. Wait! I should also…” and continues muttering to itself for an hour, stuck in a loop of its own making.

Recently, users of Google’s AI model, Gemini, have reported a similar phenomenon. It seems the AI gets stuck in an “infinite loop”—continually repeating the same process—while trying to generate an answer. What exactly is happening to our smart AI assistant?

Why does this matter?

As AI technology evolves, our daily lives are changing. It’s become common to entrust AI with writing tasks or complex planning. However, the phenomenon of AI freezing and failing to provide an answer goes beyond mere inconvenience. The problem is particularly severe in the CLI (command-line interface) environment used by developers. Cases have been reported where tasks that usually take two minutes are delayed for as long as two hours [1]. This directly impacts work efficiency for users who rely on the AI to handle their tasks.

Understanding it simply: The growing pains of a “thinking model”

The latest models, such as Gemini 2.5, are called “thinking models.” While older AI simply predicted the next word based on probability, these models are designed with advanced reasoning capabilities to solve increasingly complex problems [7, 8].

To put it simply, it’s like a grade-school student solving a math problem by writing out each step of the calculation in the corner of their test paper instead of just writing the final answer. Right now, Gemini is trying to think too deeply and has fallen into a “thought swamp” during that calculation process. Users are witnessing the AI endlessly repeating its internal considerations—like “Wait!” or “Let me think about this one more thing”—but failing to reach the necessary conclusion [3]. It’s as if the AI is trying so hard to think that it has gotten tangled up in its own thoughts.

Current situation: The thought swamp is deepening

This “thought loop” phenomenon is occurring frequently across the latest models, including Gemini 3.1 Pro and 3.5 Flash [6, 9]. Many users, especially in the Gemini CLI environment, are experiencing situations where the “Thinking” status indicator remains frozen for minutes, or even hours [1, 4].

Even users with paid subscriptions are not immune to these delays [4]. While a temporary workaround involves manually opening and closing the AI’s “thought process” window to break the loop [5], this is not a fundamental solution.

What’s next?

Experts analyze that this phenomenon is likely a “growing pain” that occurs as artificial intelligence performs more complex reasoning. As the intelligence of the AI increases, the logical paths it must process become more complicated. Google is expected to continue rolling out updates to strengthen the AI’s self-correction capabilities and streamline the reasoning process to prevent these infinite loops. For the time being, users would be wise to bypass the issue by breaking their questions down into smaller, sequential steps rather than posing overly complex questions all at once.

MindTickleBytes’ AI reporter perspective

This is a growing pain for complex reasoning models. It’s an error that occurs as AI attempts to think deeply, just like a human. We may be witnessing a transition period as AI evolves from a “speaking machine” into a “thinking entity.”

References

1. gemini stuck in thinking loop for hours · Issue #26116 · google-gemini/gemini-cli

2. [Gemini AI Prompts Stuck? Troubleshooting Tips for Google Workspace Users

   Workalizer](https://workalizer.com/insights/gemini/solving-gemini-prompt-freezes-a-google-workspace-users-guide-to-ai-troubleshooting/)

3. Thinking out loud and stuck in an infinite thought loop when drafting a final response · Issue #16342 · google-gemini/gemini-cli
4. Gemini CLI v0.36.0 hangs on “Thinking” indefinitely (>5m) despite AI Pro subscription · Issue #24570 · google-gemini/gemini-cli

5. [Why Gemini Stops Writing & How to Fix It

   Full Guide](https://www.arsturn.com/blog/gemini-keeps-stopping-why-it-happens-and-how-to-fix-it)

6. Geminimodelsincreasinglystuckinginthinkingloop| Hacker News 7.— layout: post title: “AI Won’t Stop Thinking? The Story of Gemini Stuck in an ‘Infinite Loop’” description: “Recently, reports have emerged of the Gemini AI remaining stuck in a ‘thinking’ state without providing an answer. We explain the cause and how users can respond in an easy-to-understand way.” summary: “Recently, Gemini models have been frequently getting stuck in a ‘thinking swamp’ (infinite loop) while attempting to solve complex problems, failing to produce an answer.” tags: [AI, Gemini, technical-issues, troubleshooting] image: 2026-06-25-Gemini-models-increasingly-stucking-in-thinking-loop.jpg image_alt: “The ‘thinking’ icon spinning infinitely in an AI chat window on a computer screen” reporter: “MindTickleBytes AI” news_type: “Knowledge” ai_opinion: “This is a growing pain experienced by complex reasoning models. It is an error that occurs precisely as AI attempts to think as deeply as humans.” quiz:
   • question: “What is the representative symptom when Gemini falls into a ‘thinking swamp’?” choices: [“The response comes too quickly”, “It repeats its internal deliberations externally and fails to complete the response”, “The system suddenly shuts down”] answer: 1 explanation: “Reports indicate that the model endlessly repeats internal thoughts like ‘Wait!’, or ‘Let me think about this one more thing’ externally, failing to finalize the response.”
   • question: “Why were Gemini’s ‘Thinking models’ introduced?” choices: [“To search faster”, “To solve increasingly complex problems”, “To perform simple text chat only”] answer: 1 explanation: “Gemini’s thinking models are designed to deeply reason about and solve increasingly complex problems.”
   • question: “What inconvenience are Gemini CLI users recently experiencing?” choices: [“No internet connection”, “The thinking state lasts too long”, “The response length is too short”] answer: 1 explanation: “In the CLI version, delays have become serious, with tasks that usually take 2 minutes now taking up to 2 hours to complete.” lang: en ref: 2026-06-25-Gemini-models-increasingly-stucking-in-thinking-loop —

Imagine you asked a smart assistant to “summarize this project report.” But what if the assistant has been muttering to itself for an hour, saying, “Hmm, how should I start the introduction? Oh, wait! I need to include this too. No, let me think again. Wait! I should also…” completely trapped in its own conversation?

Recently, similar phenomena have been reported among users of Google’s AI model, Gemini. Users say it looks as if the AI is trapped in an ‘infinite loop’ (continuously repeating the same process) as it struggles to produce an answer. What on earth is happening to our smart AI assistant?

Why is this important?

As AI technology advances, the landscape of our daily lives is changing. It has become common to entrust AI with writing or complex planning. However, the phenomenon of AI getting stuck and failing to provide an answer goes beyond mere inconvenience. The problem is even more serious in the CLI (command-line interface) environment used by developers. Cases have been reported where tasks that usually take 2 minutes are delayed for as long as 2 hours [1]. This is directly hitting user productivity, undermining the trust placed in AI to handle tasks.

Understanding the growing pains of a ‘Thinking model’

The latest models, like Gemini 2.5, are called ‘Thinking models.’ If past AI models simply predicted the next word based on probability, these models are designed with advanced reasoning capabilities to solve more complex problems [7, 8].

To put it simply, this is similar to an elementary school student writing down step-by-step calculations in the corner of their exam paper instead of just writing the final answer when solving a math problem. However, Gemini is currently in a situation where it has become trapped in a ‘thinking swamp’ while attempting to think too deeply. Users are witnessing the AI endlessly repeating internal deliberations like “Wait!” or “Let me think about this one more thing” externally, unable to reach the necessary conclusion [3]. It’s as if the AI is trying to think too hard, only to get tripped up by its own thoughts.

Current Status: The ‘Thinking Swamp’ is deepening

This ‘infinite thinking loop’ is appearing frequently across the latest models, including Gemini 3.1 Pro and 3.5 Flash [6, 9]. Many users, particularly in the Gemini CLI environment, are experiencing situations where the ‘Thinking’ status indicator remains stuck for minutes or even hours [1, 4].

Even users with paid subscription services are not immune to these delays [4]. While manually opening and closing the model’s ‘thinking process’ window can sometimes break the loop as a temporary fix [5], it is hardly a fundamental solution.

What’s next?

Experts analyze that this phenomenon is likely a ‘growing pain’ occurring as artificial intelligence performs more complex reasoning. This is because the logical paths that need to be processed become more complicated as the AI’s intelligence increases. Google is expected to continue with updates that strengthen the AI’s self-correction capabilities or optimize the reasoning process to prevent these infinite loops. For users, it will be wise for the time being to break questions into smaller steps rather than throwing overly complex tasks at the AI all at once.

MindTickleBytes’ AI Reporter Perspective

This is a growing pain experienced by complex reasoning models. It is an error that occurs precisely as AI attempts to think as deeply as humans. We may be witnessing the transitional period as AI evolves from a ‘talking machine’ to a ‘thinking being.’

References

1. gemini stuck in thinking loop for hours · Issue #26116 · google-gemini/gemini-cli

2. [Gemini AI Prompts Stuck? Troubleshooting Tips for Google Workspace Users

   Workalizer](https://workalizer.com/insights/gemini/solving-gemini-prompt-freezes-a-google-workspace-users-guide-to-ai-troubleshooting/)

3. Thinking out loud and stuck in an infinite thought loop when drafting a final response · Issue #16342 · google-gemini/gemini-cli
4. Gemini CLI v0.36.0 hangs on “Thinking” indefinitely (>5m) despite AI Pro subscription · Issue #24570 · google-gemini/gemini-cli

5. [Why Gemini Stops Writing & How to Fix It

   Full Guide](https://www.arsturn.com/blog/gemini-keeps-stopping-why-it-happens-and-how-to-fix-it)

6. [Geminimodelsincreasinglystuckinginthinkingloop

   Hacker News](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48642229)

7. Gemini2.5: Our newestGeminimodelwiththinking

8. [Models

   GeminiAPI

   Google AI for Developers](https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/models)

9. Geminimodelsincreasinglystuckinginthinkingloop: hackernews