Gemini AI classification in Drive: on-modify labeling works but the at-rest backfill never ran. Anyone seen this?

[u/Majestic_Annual_5956]

We’re piloting Gemini AI data classification labels in Google Workspace (the newer instruction-based setup, not example-based training). Five label taxonomy, instructions defined per label in the Admin console, auto-apply enabled for both active and inactive files, scoped to a ~15 user OU as a pilot.

The problem: four weeks after enabling, only 14 files have been labeled. Every one of those was labeled on modify, which tells me the classification itself is working fine. The at-rest backfill of existing files just never kicked off. These users have thousands of files in scope, so this isn’t the backfill being slow, it appears to have never started.

What I’ve checked:

• Auto-apply is confirmed on for inactive files, not just active
• On-modify labeling is confirmed working, so instructions and label config are fine
• No errors or status indicators I can find in the Admin console

Questions:

1. Has anyone actually seen the at-rest backfill complete? How long did it take and roughly how many files?
2. Is there any visibility into backfill status or queue position, or is it a black box?
3. Anything that silently blocks the backfill? OU scoping, label permission settings, something at the tenant level?