Five secretaries of state have called on Elon Musk to address misinformation shared by X’s AI chatbot, Grok, regarding the 2024 presidential election. The secretaries’ letter highlighted that Grok provided incorrect information about ballot deadlines shortly after President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the race, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee against Republican candidate Donald Trump.
The letter, addressed to Musk, revealed that Grok claimed several states had already passed their ballot deadlines for the 2024 election. This misleading information included key battleground states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, and New Mexico, along with Alabama, Indiana, Ohio, Texas, and Washington.
The secretaries emphasized that these claims were false and that ballot deadlines were still open, allowing for potential changes to the candidates listed for the presidential and vice-presidential elections.
The signatories of the letter included Steve Simon of Minnesota, Al Schmidt of Pennsylvania, Steve Hobbs of Washington, Jocelyn Benson of Michigan, and Maggie Toulouse Oliver of New Mexico. Of these, Schmidt is a Republican, while the others are Democrats.
The letter was initially reported by The Washington Post and later covered by CNBC. The secretaries expressed concern over the rapid spread of Grok’s false information across various social media platforms.
The officials also noted that Grok is accessible only to X Premium and Premium+ subscribers, and while it carries a disclaimer urging users to verify its answers, the misinformation had already been widely disseminated.
They stated that the false information continued to circulate for more than a week until it was corrected on July 31, 2024. The secretaries urged X to adopt practices similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which directs users to the nonpartisan site CanIVote.org for accurate election information.
In response to the secretaries’ letter, CNBC sought comments from Musk, who has previously shown support for Trump and Republican causes through his political action committee, America PAC.
This committee is currently under investigation by Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office for its activities in collecting voter data in swing states. The letter’s call to action underscores the need for accurate information dissemination, especially in the context of crucial election processes.
