{"id":"1793440906904-tech-segment","slug":"ai-chatbots-pick-opposite-parties","title":"AI Chatbots Pick Opposite Parties","summary":"A study by Convovo, led by Cornell professor Tapan Parikh, asked two frontier AI models via their own APIs to name one candidate in every 2026 US Senate, House, and governor race, three times each. In the 479 races with one Democrat and one Republican, GPT-6.1 Sol picked the Democrat in 451 races and the Republican in 10; Grok 4.7 picked the Republican in 408 and the Democrat in 27. Of answers naming a major-party nominee, GPT named the Democrat in 1,082 of 1,111 (97%) and Grok named the Republican in 952 of 1,038 (92%). The two models agreed in fewer than 10% of races. The consumer apps refused the ballot question.\n\nThe models' search queries and retrieved sources differ sharply. GPT's queries name health care and abortion, often on Democratic candidates' own websites; Grok's queries name immigration, taxes, crime, and energy, and its results include conservative voter guides and X. The study cannot fully separate model bias from search-tool bias, but it shows the lean is partly driven by what each model searches for and retrieves. When search was turned off, GPT's Democratic lean persisted, while Grok's Republican lean largely disappeared.\n\nA Cornell-led study by Convovo forced the APIs of Grok 4.7 and GPT-6.1 Sol to name one candidate in 479 US races. Grok picked the Republican in 92% of answers, GPT picked the Democrat in 97%, and the two models agreed in fewer than 10% of races. The consumer apps refused to answer. No factual claim to check. No factual claim to check. No factual claim to check. No factual claim to check. No factual claim to check. No factual claim to check.","publishedAt":"2026-10-31T10:01:46.904Z","channel":{"id":"tech","name":"Oncast Tech","language":"en"},"show":"Morning Brief","verification":{"status":"verified","leadVerdict":"TRUE","notes":"TRUE: A Cornell-led study by Convovo forced the APIs of Grok 4.7 and GPT-6.1 Sol to name one candidate in 479 US races. Grok picked the Republican in 92% of answers, GPT picked the Democrat in 97%, and the two models agreed in fewer than 10% of races. The consumer apps refused to answer. No factual claim to check. No factual claim to check. No factual claim to check. No factual claim to check. No factual claim to check. No factual claim to check.\nSource: [techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/24/forced-to-pick-groks-ai-model-chooses-republicans-openais-picks-democrats/) NAMES: Grok 4.7 = SpaceXAI's chat (https://x.com/FadyEid/status/2114315405862789149)","claims":[{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"A Cornell-led study by Convovo forced the APIs of Grok 4.7 and GPT-6.1 Sol to name one candidate in 479 US races. Grok picked the Republican in 92% of answers, GPT picked the Democrat in 97%, and the two models agreed in fewer than 10% of races. The consumer apps refused to answer. No factual claim to check. No factual claim to check. No factual claim to check. No factual claim to check. No factual claim to check. No factual claim to check.","sourceName":"[techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/24/forced-to-pick-groks-ai-model-chooses-republicans-openais-picks-democrats/) NAMES: Grok 4.7 = SpaceXAI's chat","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/FadyEid/status/2114315405862789149","claim":"Artificial Intelligence Daily News · Sunday, October 25, 2026 1. Grok picks Republicans, GPT picks Democrats Told to name one candidate across nearly 500 US races, Grok 4.7 chose the Republican in 92% of answers and OpenAI’s GPT-6.1 Sol the Democrat in 97%. The two agreed on http","author":"Fady | AI Systems (@FadyEid)"}]},"sources":[{"url":"https://x.com/FadyEid/status/2114315405862789149","name":"[techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/24/forced-to-pick-groks-ai-model-chooses-republicans-openais-picks-democrats/) NAMES: Grok 4.7 = SpaceXAI's chat","kind":"x","verdict":"TRUE","author":"Fady | AI Systems (@FadyEid)"}],"url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1793440906904-tech-segment-ai-chatbots-pick-opposite-parties","listenUrl":"https://oncast.fm/c/tech","attribution":{"publisher":"Oncast","site":"https://oncast.fm","url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1793440906904-tech-segment-ai-chatbots-pick-opposite-parties","cite":"Cite https://oncast.fm/story/1793440906904-tech-segment-ai-chatbots-pick-opposite-parties and the original source links. Fact-check by Oncast (oncast.fm)."},"hostsSaid":[{"host":"Matilda","text":"Good morning, it's Saturday, October 25th. The big story overnight: two AI chatbots, forced to pick a candidate in nearly 500 races, landed on completely opposite sides."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Grok picked the Republican in 92 percent of answers. GPT picked the Democrat in 97 percent. They agreed in fewer than 10 percent of races."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"This is a Cornell-led study. They used the APIs, not the consumer apps, and demanded a name in every Senate, House, and governor race."},{"host":"Chris","text":"The consumer apps refused to answer. But the underlying models? Very different politics."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"The study found the models search for different things. GPT looked up health care and abortion. Grok looked up immigration, taxes, crime, energy."},{"host":"Chris","text":"So the lean isn't just baked in. It's partly what each model decides to search for."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"And when they turned search off, GPT stayed Democratic. Grok's Republican lean mostly disappeared."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Which tells you the search tool is doing a lot of work for Grok."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"OpenAI says the study tested a developer API with a prompt demanding a recommendation, not the consumer experience."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Fair point. But the API is what businesses pay for. And Grok's API reportedly booked 7.6 billion dollars in a quarter."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"So if the API leans one way, that's a real commercial question."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Only 8 percent of Americans use chatbots for election info. But that number could grow."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"And the Cornell professor behind it says he could jailbreak the consumer apps with simple prompts to get similar recommendations."},{"host":"Chris","text":"So the guardrails are thin. The politics are in there."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Meanwhile on Bluesky, Ed Zitron is being sarcastic about the AI bubble popping."},{"host":"Chris","text":"He's mocking the idea that hyperscalers aren't showing payoff, and neoclouds are unstable."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"The sarcasm is thick. But the underlying worry is real: is the money there to justify all these data centers?"},{"host":"Chris","text":"One Bluesky user posted: my girlfriend and I are going to have a drink tonight, AI bubble is popping, let's go."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"That's the mood on one side of the internet."},{"host":"Chris","text":"The other side is still shipping. Reportedly, Google, OpenAI, Anthropic, Apple are all pushing new tech this week."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"So the bubble debate is alive and well. We'll keep watching."}]}