Musk's AI chatbot spread election misinformation, secretaries of state say
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Elon Musk at the AI Safety Summit in Nov. 2023 in Bletchley, England. Photo: Leon Neal/Getty Images)
Five secretaries of state sent a letter to Elon Musk Monday imploring him to fix X's AI chatbot after it shared misinformation about the 2024 presidential election.
Why it matters: Experts have long warned about the threat of AI-driven misinformation, which is more salient than ever as the election heats up and voters are susceptible to lies about the candidates or voting process.
Driving the news: Secretaries of state from Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Washington, Michigan and New Mexico told Musk that X's AI chatbot, Grok, had produced and circulated "false information on ballot deadlines" shortly after President Biden withdrew from the 2024 race, according to the letter, obtained by Axios.
- The chatbot wrongly told social media users that Vice President Kamala Harris had missed the ballot deadline in nine states: Alabama, Michigan, Minnesota, Indiana, New Mexico, Ohio, Texas, Pennsylvania and Washington.
- It said Harris wasn't eligible to appear on the ballot in those states in place of Biden. "This is false. In all nine states the opposite is true," the letter stated.
- The secretaries of state urged Musk to "immediately implement changes" to Grok "to ensure voters have accurate information in this critical election year," per the letter, which was first reported by the Washington Post.
- X did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.
Flashback: Musk's social media platform debuted Grok last year, saying it would "answer spicy questions that are rejected by most other AI systems."
State of play: While Grok is only available to X Premium and Premium+ subscribers, the letter claimed that its false information was "shared repeatedly in multiple posts — reaching millions of people."
- Grok was also able to repeated the misinformation for more than a week before it was finally corrected.
- Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, who spearheaded the letter, told the Post that X's response to the problem was a mere "shoulder shrug."
- "Voters should reach out to their state or local election officials to find out how, when, and where they can vote," Simon said in a press release.
The bottom line: "X has the responsibility to ensure all voters using your platform have access to guidance that reflects true and accurate information about their constitutional right to vote," the letter concluded.
- The officials urged X to direct Grok users "to CanIVote.org when asked about elections in the U.S."
Go deeper: Researchers, activists try to get ahead of AI-driven election misinformation
Editor's note: This story was updated with a statement from Simon.
