US government chatbot adjusted after contradicting Trump on 2020 election and other claims

The US government’s new America.gov chatbot initially provided answers that contradicted several of President Donald Trump’s contentious claims, but the system was later adjusted to avoid political commentary.

Launch and immediate controversy

The America.gov platform and its chatbot were unveiled by President Donald Trump at an event at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium. The chatbot began answering public queries on its first day and, according to observers, used official documents and records to challenge some narratives promoted by the administration that created it.

Fact-based answers on election and unrest

The Digital Democracy Institute of the Americas said the chatbot “harnessed facts and official documents to contradict some of the false narratives and political framing about immigration and elections heavily promoted by the administration that built it.”

When asked whether there had been widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, the chatbot replied: “Official federal assessments after the 2020 presidential election did not find fraud at a scale that changed the outcome.” That response was shared by Senator Adam Schiff of California on X, who said it was “finally, a straight answer from someone in the Trump administration” alongside a screenshot of the chatbot stating that Joe Biden had won the 2020 election.

The chatbot also contradicted a claim about inflation, responding to a question about whether the United States experienced the “worst inflation” ever under former president Joe Biden with: “No. Official Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) data do not show the highest US inflation on record during 2021–2025.” It added that “‘Worst inflation ever’ is not supported by the official CPI record.”

Change in responses and official comment

On the day after its launch the chatbot declined to answer the same election question, stating: “I do not provide political commentary or analysis of past elections.” It was not clear from available reporting whether the change reflected an alteration by the Trump administration to the chatbot’s settings.

A White House official said in a statement to AFP:

“America.gov will continue to be updated to provide Americans the most accurate and reliable federal information and resources.”

The official did not elaborate further.

Context

The launch of the government platform and its AI assistant comes amid broader global concerns about risks posed by uncontrollable AI, with some tech executives calling for a slowdown on development for safety reasons. President Trump has dismissed those concerns as a conspiracy to undermine US economic growth and hamper competition with China.