SAINT PAUL – On August 21, 2024, X’s Head of U.S. and Canada Global Government Affairs informed the Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State that the platform has made changes to its AI search assistant, Grok, after a request from several Secretaries of State.
Going forward, people who use election-related terms in their inquiry to Grok will be directed to vote.gov for more information and resources. Vote.gov is a nonpartisan website operated by the U.S. government in partnership with the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
On August 5, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt, and Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs co-signed a letter to X after the platform’s AI search assistant provided inaccurate information on elections rules in their states – and then delayed correcting its own mistake for ten days, even after it learned that the information it had spread was false.
Secretary Simon, Secretary Benson, Secretary Toulouse Oliver, Secretary Schmidt, and Secretary Hobbs issued the following statement on the response from X:
“We appreciate X’s 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. Elections are a team effort, and we need and welcome any partners who are committed to ensuring free, fair, secure, and accurate elections.
In the U.S., all elections are run by local officials, who are supported and overseen by a state agency. Election rules and procedures can vary widely from state to state, and voters should seek out information from their local election officials about who can vote, when they can vote, and how they can vote in their area. Websites like Vote.gov and CanIVote.org are also trustworthy resources that can connect voters with their local election officials.”