You can always opt out of using gboard altogether.

FUTO Keyboard is quite nice.

Any recommendations on android keyboards?

Thanks for getting ahead of me. I add their competitor MS doing the same even more openly:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/microsoft-swiftkey...

Always assume companies will gather, use and share your data in all ways they legally can. The burden of proof is never on the user that companies don't milk us. Calling it "misinformation" as someone further above did is bizarre. This is the default business model of big tech.

Whether it's aimed at large companies or not, I'd still rather not see misinformation spread. People already have poor enough understandings of what companies actually do and don't collect. There exists ongoing conspiracy theories that phones actively listen to conversations while in your pocket, despite there being no evidence to such a claim.

Facts do matter, and I appreciate those that make an effort to state them correctly.

Misinformation isn't more or less appropriate depending on the target.