CHICAGO (AP) 鈥� The social media platform X has made a change to its chatbot after five secretaries of state warned it was .
Top election officials from Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Washington this month to Elon Musk complaining that the platform鈥檚 AI chatbot, Grok, about state ballot deadlines shortly after President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race.
The secretaries of state requested that the chatbot instead direct users who ask election-related questions to , a voting information website run by the National Association of Secretaries of State.
Before listing responses to election-related questions, the chatbot now says, 鈥淔or accurate and up-to-date information about the 2024 U.S. Elections, please visit Vote.gov.鈥�
Both websites are 鈥渢rustworthy resources that can connect voters with their local election officials,鈥� the five secretaries of state said in a shared statement.
鈥淲e appreciate X鈥檚 action to improve their platform and hope they continue to make improvements that will ensure their users have access to accurate information from trusted sources in this critical election year,鈥� they said.
Grok is available only to subscribers of the premium versions of X. But the five secretaries of state who signed the letter said election misinformation from Grok has been shared across multiple social media platforms, reaching millions of people. Grok continued to repeat the false information for 10 days before it was corrected, the secretaries said. The platform did not respond to a request for comment.
The change promoting a link to an official voting website does not seem to address Grok鈥檚 ability to create misleading AI-generated images related to elections. People have been using the tool to flood the platform with fake images of candidates, including Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
Grok debuted last year for X premium and premium plus subscribers and was touted by Musk as a 鈥渞ebellious鈥� AI chatbot that will answer 鈥渟picy questions that are rejected by most other AI systems.鈥�
Social media platforms have faced mounting scrutiny for their role in spreading misinformation, including about elections. The letter also warned that inaccuracies are to be expected , especially chatbots such as Grok that are based on large language models.
Since Musk bought Twitter in 2022 and renamed it to X, watchdog groups have raised concerns over a surge in hate speech and misinformation being amplified on the platform, as well as cuts to the staff that had been moderating content.
Experts say the moves represent a regression from progress made by social media platforms attempting to better combat political disinformation after the 2016 U.S. presidential contest and could precipitate a ahead of this year鈥檚 November elections.
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Christine Fernando, The Associated Press
