Scott Wiener forced into screeching U-turn after Nancy Pelosi raged at Connie Chan ads
2026-08-09
New York Post
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California state senator Scott Wiener used an AI chatbot to impersonate and mock rival Connie Chan in the race to replace Nancy Pelosi. The chatbot was widely condemned as racist and sexist by Pelosi and others, leading Wiener to remove the site and related billboards after public backlash.[AI generated]
Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?
An AI chatbot was explicitly used to impersonate a political candidate in a misleading and harmful way, which led to public outrage and condemnation from prominent political figures. The AI system's use directly led to reputational harm and potential violation of rights (e.g., undermining the candidate's identity and agency), which fits the definition of harm to communities and violations of rights. The campaign's subsequent removal of the chatbot and apology confirm that harm occurred. Thus, this is an AI Incident rather than a hazard or complementary information.[AI generated]