Five secretaries of state ask Musk to fix X's Grok chatbot after false ballot-deadline answers

What he said or did

After President Biden withdrew from the race, X's AI chatbot Grok told users that ballot deadlines had passed in nine states, implying Kamala Harris could not be added. Five secretaries of state wrote to Musk asking that Grok direct election questions to CanIVote.org.

Background

The letter was signed by Steve Simon (Minnesota), Jocelyn Benson (Michigan), Maggie Toulouse Oliver (New Mexico), Al Schmidt (Pennsylvania) and Steve Hobbs (Washington).

Official response

The letter said Grok continued to repeat this false information for more than a week before it was corrected on 31 July 2024. X did not immediately respond (Minnesota Reformer).

Fact-checks and findings

The secretaries of state said the claim was false: ballots in the nine listed states were not closed and deadlines still allowed candidate changes.

What happened next

By late August 2024 Grok was redirecting users who asked election-related questions to vote.gov (The Decoder).

Sources

Minnesota Secretary of State (letter)
5 Aug 2024
Minnesota Reformer
5 Aug 2024
The Decoder
30 Aug 2024 · Archived copy

This entry records what was publicly said or done, as reported by the sources above. Quotes are attributed to the person who made them.

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