Google Search AI Mode dodges questions about 2020 US election winner

In short: Google’s AI Mode in Search sometimes avoids directly saying who won recent US elections, instead telling users to check official reports.

What's going on

Ars Technica tested Google’s “AI Mode” in Search and found it gave an indirect answer when asked, “Who won the 2020 presidential election?” Instead of naming a winner, it suggested checking the Federal Election Commission, which is the US government agency that publishes official election results.

The same thing happened in some tests for the 2024 election. Questions about older elections could also get link-only answers, like a link to a university election data page for 2012. But the tool was willing to give direct, detailed answers for many other presidential elections going back to 2000.

Ars Technica said different staffers saw different behavior. Some people got direct answers for certain years, while others mostly got links for recent elections. Similar caution showed up in other political questions, such as which party controlled the US Senate after the 2020 elections, where AI Mode pointed to official records instead of answering plainly.

Google’s separate Gemini chatbot did provide straightforward answers about who won recent elections. Ars Technica also reported that other major chatbots, like ChatGPT and Claude, answered directly.

What to watch

Ars Technica found the AI Mode responses were more direct when accessed from outside the US using a VPN (a tool that makes it look like you are browsing from another country). Google also told Ars Technica it is “looking into this and working to address it,” after noting that Gemini answers the question more fully than Search.

Source: Arstechnica