Jordan Demands Disclosure of Government Involvement in AI

(RightWing.org) – Google launched Bard in March 2023 in response to the rising popularity of ChatGPT. The company upgraded the artificial intelligence (AI) system to Gemini in late 2023 and merged it with Duet AI this February. The chatbot sparked controversy after users reported that Gemini was generating images of historical figures like the Founding Fathers as people of color, sparking concerns the system had gone “woke.” House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordon (R-OH) recently demanded the disclosure of the government’s involvement with Genesis.

On March 2, the House Judiciary Committee issued a press release detailing the contents of a letter Jordan sent to Daniel Donovan, an attorney representing Google’s parent company, Alphabet, earlier that day. Jordan wrote that President Joe Biden issued an executive order in October 2023 related to the development of guidelines to ensure the “safe, secure, and trustworthy” use and development of AI by advancing “equity” within emerging chatbot/AI systems.

A subsequent report issued by Google’s Gemini Team selected external groups to evaluate the system based on their alignment with White House “commitments” and Biden’s executive order.

Google claimed it worked with those groups to “help identify areas for improvement,” but Jordan wrote that recent reporting indicated those so-called “improvements” showcased “Gemini’s clear bias.” Jordan also noted that the Judiciary Committee’s concerns were heightened by Google’s history of censoring free speech.

Jordan advised that the panel was seeking documents and communications related to the company’s deployment of the Gemini Chatbot to determine the nature and scope of Google’s involvement with the executive branch while developing its Gemini system.

The letter asked for information related to content moderation and inputs for the chatbot’s image generation, including data related to the promotion or advancement of “diversity, equity, or inclusion” (DEI). Similarly, the committee is demanding materials related to censorship advancing DEI. The letter also demands all documents and communications “between or among” executive branch officials and Alphabet “referring or relating to” the deployment, training, or development of AI and large language models.

The letter gave Alphabet until 5:00 p.m. on March 16 to provide those materials.