OpenAI suspends bot developer for U.S. Congressman Dean Phillips

OpenAI has taken its inaugural action against the developer of a bot mimicking U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Congressman Dean Phillips, marking the first response to perceived misuse of its artificial intelligence (AI) tools in a political context, as reported by the Washington Post.

“Anyone who builds with our tools must follow our usage policies. We recently removed a developer account that was knowingly violating our API usage policies which disallow political campaigning, or impersonating an individual without consent.” OpenAI spokeswoman Lindsey Held said in a statement.

Dean.Bot, driven by OpenAI’s ChatGPT, originated from the ingenuity of Silicon Valley visionaries Matt Krisiloff and Jed Somers. The duo established a strategic super PAC, “We Deserve Better,” rallying support for Phillips in anticipation of the upcoming New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, according to the report.

The PAC has received $1 million from billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who called it “by far the largest investment I have ever made in someone running for office” in a post on social media platform X.

The super PAC, had contracted with AI start-up Delphi to build the bot. OpenAI suspended Delphi’s account late on Friday, noting that OpenAI’s rules ban the use of its technology in political campaigns. Delphi took down Dean.Bot after the account suspension, the report added.

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Krisiloff did not have further comment. Delphi did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Dean.Bot, a cutting-edge AI tool equipped with advanced conversational capabilities, could engage in real-time interactions with voters via a user-friendly website.

In a early application of emerging technology, researchers raised concerns about the potential risks it posed to electoral processes, as reported by the Post. To ensure transparency, the Dean.Bot website prominently featured a disclaimer highlighting its AI nature and purpose.