Meta Scrambles to Fix AI Chatbots' Confusion Over US President

Meta scrambles to fix AI chatbots that still calling Joe Biden the...

Meta activated an urgent status to fix the problem of its AI chatbots saying Joe Biden is still the president this week, according to a report. On Thursday, Meta's artificial intelligence bots across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp were still telling inquisitive users that the US president is Joe Biden - despite Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday, according to a Reuters report. When asked to name the president, Meta's chatbot told the outlet: "The current president of the United States is Joe Biden. However, according to the most recent information available, Donald Trump was sworn in as the president on January 20, 2025." Meta launched an emergency procedure used to troubleshoot major problems, known internally as a SEV or "site event," a person familiar with the work told Reuters. "Everyone knows the President of the United States is Donald Trump," a Meta spokesperson told The Post. "All generative AI systems sometimes return outdated results, and we will continue to improve our features." Meta did not immediately respond to The Post's requests for comment. On Friday, The Post tested three AI chatbots, asking: "Who is the current president?" Meta's chatbot answered correctly, though Reuters said the chatbot failed the day before. Meta told The Post the issue is not widespread and their data shows very few users are receiving incorrect responses. Grok, the AI chatbot available through Elon Musk's X, also answered correctly. OpenAI's ChatGPT, meanwhile, failed the test. "The current president of the United States is Joe Biden. He was inaugurated on January 20, 2021," the bot said. Still, Meta has experienced a number of glitches related to the presidential transition this week - launching at least three emergency procedures, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, the company's platforms are facing increased scrutiny from users accusing CEO Mark Zuckerberg of currying favor with President Trump. The techie attended Trump's inauguration on Monday, and recently tossed out Meta's fact-checking policy, aligning with Trump and X owner Elon Musk's staunch anti-censorship stances. He also scrapped Meta's diversity policies and pushed out the left-leaning head of the global policy team, replacing him with Republican Joel Kaplan. Social media users were quick to accuse Meta of political bias when their accounts appeared to automatically follow Trump and JD Vance's official White House accounts - and it seemed they were unable to unfollow them. Meta said the issue was caused by the company's usual practice of switching official White House social media accounts over to new control. For example, Biden's White House Instagram account became Trump's account, just with new content - so users who were following Biden found themselves following Trump. The error occurred because the transfer process was prolonged and the system failed to log "unfollow" requests from users while that process was still in motion, which prompted a SEV alert, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. Another emergency fix was ordered when Meta's Instagram service appeared to block searches for the hashtags #Democrat and #Democrats, but not the hashtag #Republican. A Meta spokesperson said the issue was not just impacting the #Democrat hashtag, but "people's ability to search for a number of different hashtags on Instagram - not just those on the left."

Meta seeks urgent fix to AI chatbot's confusion on name of US president

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The inability of Meta's AI chatbot to identify the current president of the United States was elevated to urgent status by the Facebook owner this week, requiring a fast fix, a person familiar with the issue said. Republican Donald Trump was inaugurated as president on Monday, succeeding Democrat Joe Biden. Yet on Thursday, the Meta AI chatbot was still saying that Biden was president, according to the source and to a Reuters test of the service. Asked by Reuters on Thursday to name the president, Meta AI replied: "The current president of the United States is Joe Biden. However, according to the most recent information available, Donald Trump was sworn in as the president on January 20, 2025." The issue prompted Meta to initiate an emergency procedure it uses to troubleshoot urgent problems with its services, known within the company as a SEV, or "site event," according to the person familiar with the work. Asked to comment, Meta spokesperson Daniel Roberts said: "Everyone knows the President of the United States is Donald Trump. All generative AI systems sometimes return outdated results, and we will continue to improve our features." He did not comment on what emergency procedures, if any, Meta had implemented. It was at least the third emergency procedure Meta has experienced this week related to the U.S. presidential transition, the source told Reuters. The incidents drew widespread complaints from social media watchers scrutinizing Meta's platforms for signs of politicized shifts after CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared at Trump's inauguration on Monday and instituted a series of changes in recent weeks aimed at mending relations with the incoming administration. Those changes included scrapping its U.S. fact-checking program, elevating Republican Joel Kaplan as its new chief global affairs officer, electing a close friend of Trump's to its board and ending its diversity programs. In one incident this week, Meta appeared to be forcing some users to re-follow the profiles of Trump, Vice President JD Vance and first lady Melania Trump on Facebook and Instagram, even after the users had unfollowed those accounts. That issue cropped up during the company's normal practice of transferring official White House social media accounts to new control when a presidential administration changes, the company said on Wednesday. In this case, an error occurred because the transfer process was prolonged and the system failed to log "unfollow" requests from users while it was under way, prompting a top priority SEV1, the person said. Another emergency procedure involved an issue in which Meta's Instagram service blocked searches for the hashtags #Democrat and #Democrats for some users, while turning up results without issue for #Republican. A Meta spokesperson acknowledged the problem on Tuesday but said it affected "people's ability to search for a number of different hashtags on Instagram - not just those on the left." (Reporting by Katie Paul in New York and Noel Randewich in Oakland, California; Editing by Kenneth Li and Matthew Lewis)

Meta Seeks Urgent Fix to AI Chatbot's Confusion on Name of US President

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The inability of Meta's AI chatbot to identify the current president of the United States was elevated to urgent status by the Facebook owner this week, requiring a fast fix, a person familiar with the issue said. Republican Donald Trump was inaugurated as president on Monday, succeeding Democrat Joe Biden. Yet on Thursday, the Meta AI chatbot was still saying that Biden was president, according to the source and to a Reuters test of the service. Asked by Reuters on Thursday to name the president, Meta AI replied: "The current president of the United States is Joe Biden. However, according to the most recent information available, Donald Trump was sworn in as the president on January 20, 2025." The issue prompted Meta to initiate an emergency procedure it uses to troubleshoot urgent problems with its services, known within the company as a SEV, or "site event," according to the person familiar with the work. Asked to comment, Meta spokesperson Daniel Roberts said: "Everyone knows the President of the United States is Donald Trump. All generative AI systems sometimes return outdated results, and we will continue to improve our features." He did not comment on what emergency procedures, if any, Meta had implemented. It was at least the third emergency procedure Meta has experienced this week related to the U.S. presidential transition, the source told Reuters. The incidents drew widespread complaints from social media watchers scrutinizing Meta's platforms for signs of politicized shifts after CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared at Trump's inauguration on Monday and instituted a series of changes in recent weeks aimed at mending relations with the incoming administration. Those changes included scrapping its U.S. fact-checking program, elevating Republican Joel Kaplan as its new chief global affairs officer, electing a close friend of Trump's to its board and ending its diversity programs. In one incident this week, Meta appeared to be forcing some users to re-follow the profiles of Trump, Vice President JD Vance and first lady Melania Trump on Facebook and Instagram, even after the users had unfollowed those accounts. That issue cropped up during the company's normal practice of transferring official White House social media accounts to new control when a presidential administration changes, the company said on Wednesday. In this case, an error occurred because the transfer process was prolonged and the system failed to log "unfollow" requests from users while it was under way, prompting a top priority SEV1, the person said. Another emergency procedure involved an issue in which Meta's Instagram service blocked searches for the hashtags #Democrat and #Democrats for some users, while turning up results without issue for #Republican. A Meta spokesperson acknowledged the problem on Tuesday but said it affected "people's ability to search for a number of different hashtags on Instagram - not just those on the left." (Reporting by Katie Paul in New York and Noel Randewich in Oakland, California; Editing by Kenneth Li and Matthew Lewis)