OpenAI suspends bot developer for presidential hopeful Dean Phillips

OpenAI, an artificial intelligence company, has taken action against the developer of a bot created to mimic Democratic presidential hopeful Rep. Dean Phillips, citing misuse of its AI tools in a political campaign. The developers, Matt Krisiloff and Jed Somers, created “Dean.Bot” as part of a super PAC supporting Phillips, funded by activist Bill Ackman. The bot, powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT conversational software, was developed by AI start-up Delphi. OpenAI suspended Delphi’s account for violating its usage policies, which prohibit political campaigning or impersonation without consent. Despite including disclaimers and requiring voter consent, the bot’s use of AI technology raised concerns about its potential harm to elections. Following inquiries, the developers removed ChatGPT from the bot and shifted to open source technologies, but the bot was eventually taken down in response to the suspension.