“While misinformation has been a concern in past elections, with the rise of gen AI, barriers that prevent bad actors from creating deceptive or misleading content have weakened dramatically,” the letter reads.
New York Attorney General Letitia James has reached out to big tech companies to warn them to "protect voters" from what she calls "misinformation" about the coming presidential election. The letter, obtained by ABC, claims that artificial intelligence poses a risk to voters during the race. James sent the letter to Google, OpenAI, X, Meta, which operates Facebook and Instagram, and an additional six companies.
"While misinformation has been a concern in past elections, with the rise of gen AI, barriers that prevent bad actors from creating deceptive or misleading content have weakened dramatically," the letter reads.
ABC references memes made of Kamala Harris that showed a video of her and changed the words she was saying. These jokes, James claims, pose a risk to voters. The meme was shared on X by owner Elon Musk who didn't specifically say it was a joke. A robocall was also referenced that was reportedly mimicking Joe Biden's voice, encouraging voters to "save your vote" for the November general election.
In James' New York, meme maker Douglass Mackey, who shared a meme in the 2016 election season that told Hillary Voters to text their votes, was prosecuted and sentenced to prison time. Another memer, Kristina Wong, put out a video telling Trump voters to vote the day after election day. She was not prosecuted.
Other officials have raised concerns, with secretaries of state from Pennsylvania, Washington, New Mexico, Michigan, and Minnesota sending a public letter in July to Musk calling for X’s AI "Grok" to direct voters to CanIVote.org, which fellow AI platforms ChatGPT and OpenAI do. "As tens of millions of voters in the US seek basic information about voting in this major election year, X has the responsibility to ensure all voters using your platform have access to guidance that reflects true and accurate information about their constitutional right to vote," the letter read.
ABC notes that James' letter "said nothing about the companies' obligation to comply," but that, since the letter is coming from the attorney general's office, enforcement action could be forthcoming should the big tech companies not comply.
James was also the attorney behind the civil prosecution of Donald Trump. The civil fraud case resulted in a $354 million fine for Trump. Trump called that case election interference. "This is really election interference," he said, calling the trial "ridiculous."
"These are political operatives that I’m going to be dealing with right now," he said, later adding that "it’s a very sad situation for our country."
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