Election officials urge Elon Musk to stop his AI chatbot from spreading false 2024 election information
Zachary Cohen and Marshall Cohen, CNN
Mon, August 5, 2024
Zachary Cohen and Marshall Cohen, CNN
Mon, August 5, 2024
A bipartisan group of secretaries of state blasted Elon Musk and his X platform Monday for providing “false information” about Vice President Kamala Harris’ supposed ineligibility to appear on the 2024 presidential ballot in several battleground states.
The group flagged issues that emerged last month with the AI-powered Grok chatbot on X, formerly known as Twitter. Soon after President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign, Grok provided information to some users inaccurately stating that, “The ballot deadline has passed for several states for the 2024 election,” in nine states including Pennsylvania, Michigan, Texas and Ohio, according to the letter.
“This is false,” the letter says. “In all nine states the opposite is true: The ballots are not closed, and upcoming ballot deadlines would allow for changes to candidates listed on the ballot for the offices of President and Vice President of the United States.”
The letter urged Musk to “immediately implement changes” on the X platform. They want him to direct users to a nonpartisan website from the National Association of Secretaries of State where voters can look up reliable information about their registration status and polling-place locations.
Election officials from five of the nine affected states – Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico and Washington state – signed onto the letter. Four of the five officials are Democrats. Pennsylvania’s top election official, Al Schmidt, is a Republican who famously refused to support former President Donald Trump’s attempts to interfere with the 2020 election results in Philadelphia.
CNN has reached out to X for comment.
According to the letter, the false information about Harris’ eligibility to appear on the ballot reached “millions of people” before it was apparently corrected, after 10 days.
After Musk took over Twitter in 2022, he has removed many of the prior guardrails that protected the platform from disinformation. This has allowed inaccurate information and full-blown conspiracy theories about a variety of topics, including the 2024 election, to proliferate and reach millions.
Five US states push Musk to fix AI chatbot over election misinformation
The group flagged issues that emerged last month with the AI-powered Grok chatbot on X, formerly known as Twitter. Soon after President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign, Grok provided information to some users inaccurately stating that, “The ballot deadline has passed for several states for the 2024 election,” in nine states including Pennsylvania, Michigan, Texas and Ohio, according to the letter.
“This is false,” the letter says. “In all nine states the opposite is true: The ballots are not closed, and upcoming ballot deadlines would allow for changes to candidates listed on the ballot for the offices of President and Vice President of the United States.”
The letter urged Musk to “immediately implement changes” on the X platform. They want him to direct users to a nonpartisan website from the National Association of Secretaries of State where voters can look up reliable information about their registration status and polling-place locations.
Election officials from five of the nine affected states – Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico and Washington state – signed onto the letter. Four of the five officials are Democrats. Pennsylvania’s top election official, Al Schmidt, is a Republican who famously refused to support former President Donald Trump’s attempts to interfere with the 2020 election results in Philadelphia.
CNN has reached out to X for comment.
According to the letter, the false information about Harris’ eligibility to appear on the ballot reached “millions of people” before it was apparently corrected, after 10 days.
After Musk took over Twitter in 2022, he has removed many of the prior guardrails that protected the platform from disinformation. This has allowed inaccurate information and full-blown conspiracy theories about a variety of topics, including the 2024 election, to proliferate and reach millions.
Five US states push Musk to fix AI chatbot over election misinformation
Updated Mon, August 5, 2024
By Kanishka Singh and Chandni Shah
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretaries of state from five U.S. states urged billionaire Elon Musk on Monday to fix social media platform X's AI chatbot, saying it had spread misinformation related to the Nov. 5 election.
Social media platforms, including X, have been under scrutiny for years over the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories, including false information about elections and vaccines. There has been growing concern in Washington that AI-generated content could mislead voters in the November presidential and congressional elections.
Since Musk bought the platform formerly called Twitter in 2022, civil rights groups have raised concerns over a rise in hate speech and misinformation due to reduced content moderation.
Musk, who last month endorsed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, himself has been accused of spreading misinformation. For example, he has said, without evidence, that Democrats are allowing migrants to cross the southern border so that they can vote in federal elections, even though they are ineligible to do so.
"As Secretaries of State whose offices and 37 million constituents were recently impacted by false information provided by your platform, we are calling on you to immediately implement changes to X's AI search assistant, Grok, to ensure voters have accurate information in this critical election year," the officials from Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Washington, Michigan and New Mexico said in an open letter to Musk.
After Democratic U.S. President Joe Biden stepped aside as presidential candidate on July 21 and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, the chatbot, Grok, falsely told social media users that Harris had missed the ballot deadline in nine states.
"This is false. In all nine states the opposite is true," the letter from the secretaries of state added.
Musk said in March that Grok - a chatbot from artificial intelligence startup xAI - would be enabled for all premium subscribers of X.
The officials said in their letter that even though the chatbot is only available to premium users, its misinformation was shared with millions of people on social media.
The officials said that X should direct Grok users to CanIVote.org, a nonpartisan website on U.S. voting information, when asked about U.S. elections.
The social media platform did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Chandni Shah, editing by Deepa Babington)
By Kanishka Singh and Chandni Shah
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretaries of state from five U.S. states urged billionaire Elon Musk on Monday to fix social media platform X's AI chatbot, saying it had spread misinformation related to the Nov. 5 election.
Social media platforms, including X, have been under scrutiny for years over the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories, including false information about elections and vaccines. There has been growing concern in Washington that AI-generated content could mislead voters in the November presidential and congressional elections.
Since Musk bought the platform formerly called Twitter in 2022, civil rights groups have raised concerns over a rise in hate speech and misinformation due to reduced content moderation.
Musk, who last month endorsed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, himself has been accused of spreading misinformation. For example, he has said, without evidence, that Democrats are allowing migrants to cross the southern border so that they can vote in federal elections, even though they are ineligible to do so.
"As Secretaries of State whose offices and 37 million constituents were recently impacted by false information provided by your platform, we are calling on you to immediately implement changes to X's AI search assistant, Grok, to ensure voters have accurate information in this critical election year," the officials from Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Washington, Michigan and New Mexico said in an open letter to Musk.
After Democratic U.S. President Joe Biden stepped aside as presidential candidate on July 21 and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, the chatbot, Grok, falsely told social media users that Harris had missed the ballot deadline in nine states.
"This is false. In all nine states the opposite is true," the letter from the secretaries of state added.
Musk said in March that Grok - a chatbot from artificial intelligence startup xAI - would be enabled for all premium subscribers of X.
The officials said in their letter that even though the chatbot is only available to premium users, its misinformation was shared with millions of people on social media.
The officials said that X should direct Grok users to CanIVote.org, a nonpartisan website on U.S. voting information, when asked about U.S. elections.
The social media platform did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Chandni Shah, editing by Deepa Babington)
Nicholas Liu
Mon, August 5, 2024
Elon Musk Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Residents in battleground states are submitting personal information to a pro-Trump PAC whose website invites them to "register to vote" — but instead of actually registering any voters, the PAC is just storing their precious voter data. Now Michigan's top elections official is opening an investigation in the so-called "America PAC," which was founded and partially funded by billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk, for potential violations of state election law.
“Every citizen should know exactly how their personal information is being used by PACs, especially if an entity is claiming it will help people register to vote in Michigan or any other state,” a spokeswoman for Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, said in a statement to CNBC.
When visitors to the PAC's website access the page from safe Democratic or Republican states, they are typically directed to an actual voter registration page. However, those who enter zip codes in a battleground state like Pennsylvania or Georgia are given a highly detailed form in which they are prompted to submit their address, cellphone number and age. Even after the user submits that information, the website does not help them register to vote, despite promising to do so, instead steering them towards a "thank you" page.
As of Aug. 4, following criticism of the deceptive tactic, the form disappeared from the website.
According to CNBC, which was the first to report on America PAC, the committee has spent over $21 million since June on canvassing, digital media, text message services and phone calls, per Federal Election Commission filings. Around $800,000 of that money went into digital marketing ads targeted at voters in battleground states, with many encouraging voters to visit their website and "register to vote."
"America PAC is focusing on door-to-door canvassing in support of Trump," Brendan Fischer, deputy executive director at campaign finance watchdog Documented, told CNBC. "I think it is safe to assume that the voter data gathered through these digital appeals are going to inform America PAC's canvassing and other political activities."
Fischer noted that FEC ruling permits billionaire-funded PACs and presidential campaigns to directly coordinate on door-to-door canvassing activities, which "ensures that the PAC's activities are maximally beneficial to the campaign, and frees up the campaign's own funds for other use."
Some legal experts said the Musk-backed PAC's deceptive tactics might be legal. “I am not aware of any laws being broken,” Barbara McQuade, a former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, said in an email to CNBC on Sunday.
Musk is not the only tech executive bankrolling the effort. America PAC, which raised more than $8 million between April 1 and June 30, has also received donations from venture capitalist Doug Leone, as well as cryptocurrency investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss; it has also, according to CNBC, received funds from a company run by Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale. The records do not yet list Musk as a donor, though he has said repeatedly that he is making donations to the committee.
Musk's support for the PAC comes after he's used his social media platform, X, to amplify pro-Trump voices and manipulate community guidelines to suppress anti-Trump speech. Last week, he violated his own platform's rules in sharing a doctored video of Vice
President Kamala Harris, with X also temporarily suspending several pro-Harris accounts.
Lily Mae Lazarus
Sun, August 4, 2024
David Swanson/Reuters
The Michigan secretary of state’s office opened an investigation over the weekend into a political action committee created and partially funded by Elon Musk.
The America PAC, which supports former president Donald Trump, has been collecting voter data from residents of battleground states, including Michigan—a potential violation of state law, according to authorities.
“Every citizen should know exactly how their personal information is being used by PACs, especially if an entity is claiming it will help people register to vote in Michigan or any other state,” a spokeswoman for the Michigan secretary of state’s office said in a statement to CNBC.
The PAC was gathering voter information through the website’s “register to vote section,” where, after providing a ZIP code, address and phone number, users would be directed to a page that said “thank you” alongside a message asking them to “complete the form below” to help finish the registration process.
As of Aug. 4, however, any mention of the form disappeared from the page, which now only reads “thank you.”
According to AdImpact, the committee has shelled out more than $800,000 since early July for targeted digital marketing to battleground state voters namely in Arizona, Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Many of the ads encouraged people to register to vote at America PAC’s website.
The Michigan secretary of state’s investigation seeks to determine if the Tesla founder’s committee violated state law by seeking the information. “We will refer potential violations to the Michigan Attorney General’s office as appropriate,” a spokeswoman for the department continued.
Michigan Secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson speaks to reporters on midterm election day in 2022.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Jocelyn Benson, Michigan’s secretary of state and the state’s top election official, has been a vocal opponent of Trump and his allies’ election denialism.
She, along with a host of other Michigan Democrats, was sued at least twice by the Republican National Committee in 2024.
The Daily Beast.
MR. FLIP FLOP
Trump says he has 'no choice' but to support electric vehicles because Elon Musk 'endorsed me very strongly'
Kenneth Niemeyer
Sun, August 4, 2024
Trump said at a rally on Saturday that he supports electric vehicles because Elon Musk endorsed him.
However, he also criticized EV infrastructure and Biden's EV mandates.
Musk has publicly backed Trump recently but denied a rumored $45 million donation.
Former President Donald Trump said he had "no choice" but to support electric vehicles after Tesla CEO Elon Musk "endorsed" him.
Trump then went on to criticize the EV industry at length.
Musk has long been a champion of the pivot to electric vehicles. His company, Tesla, has largely led the way in developing the industry, which for a time made Musk a darling of the climate-conscious left.
But Musk has more recently embraced conservative politics, especially the issue of free speech. Musk bought Twitter in 2022, rebranded it to X, and has dismantled many of the checks and balances meant to limit hateful speech and misinformation on the platform.
Musk has publicly supported Trump since the assassination attempt last month. Musk, however, has denied reports that he pledged a $45 million donation to a pro-Trump super PAC.
At a rally in Georgia on Sunday, Trump told the crowd that he supports electric cars but thinks people should still have access to gas vehicles.
"I'm for electric cars. I have to be because, you know, Elon endorsed me very strongly," Trump told the crowd. "So, I have no choice."
He then clarified that he only supports them as a "small slice" of the larger auto industry.
"You want to have gas-propelled cars. You want to have hybrids. You want to have every kind of car," he said.
Trump has repeatedly attacked the Biden administration's electric vehicle regulations, including its plan to grow electric vehicle sales to half of all new vehicle sales by 2030.
While speaking at a bitcoin conference in July, Trump gave similar remarks when referencing Biden's regulations, which also make it more difficult for gas-powered cars to meet EPA standards.
"Not everybody has to have an electric car. I told him that," Trump said, referencing Musk. "So we're going to get rid of that mandate if you don't mind. Some people want gasoline-propelled cars, some people want a hybrid, and some people like an electric car."
Trump has also repeatedly criticized the cost of installing EV chargers nationwide. He erroneously claimed the government built eight chargers in the Midwest for $9 billion.
He's given wildly inconsistent estimates for how much it would cost to install EV chargers nationwide. At the bitcoin conference, he said it would cost $12 trillion. At a North Carolina rally on Thursday, he said it would cost $9 trillion. And at the Atlanta rally on Sunday, he said it would cost $5 trillion.
The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 included $7.5 billion to help pay for thousands of electric vehicle chargers around the country, Politico reported.
The White House's infrastructure tracking website shows that only 15 charging stations have been installed so far. An analysis published by research firm Atlas Public Policy shows that each station received about $770,000 in federal funding, Politico reported.
Read the original article on Business Insider
No comments:
Post a Comment