RFK Jr. claims AI backs anti-vaccine views; fact-check finds otherwise

Key facts

• AI models ChatGPT and Gemini stated vaccines can prevent infection and transmission.
• These AI responses align with expert medical consensus on vaccine efficacy.
• Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed AI tools supported his anti-vaccine views.
• The event where Kennedy made his claims was sponsored by AI companies and health industry firms.
• Sponsorship packages for the event reached $300,000.
• Critics, including Robert Malone, accused the event of conflicts of interest and corporate capture.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asserted that artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT and Gemini support his anti-vaccine viewpoints, but a review of their responses indicates otherwise. When asked if vaccines prevent transmission and infection, both AI models provided answers consistent with expert medical consensus, stating that vaccines can indeed prevent both, with varying degrees of effectiveness depending on the vaccine and disease.

These AI responses contradict Kennedy's suggestion that AI would validate his views. The article notes that while AI has "downsides," it also quoted OpenAI CEO Sam Altman suggesting it would be "malpractice for a doctor to make a diagnosis or to make a prescription without at least checking AI."

Kennedy's praise for AI appears in the context of the MAHA event, held at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C. The summit was partially sponsored by AI companies OpenAI and Anthropic, as well as Walmart and Grail, a company with a cancer screening test pending FDA approval. Sponsorship packages for the event reportedly sold for up to $300,000, including a guaranteed speaker slot and input into panel composition.

The event's agenda featured executives from major health insurance companies like UnitedHealth and Elevance, drug makers, a panel on psychedelics, and an executive from telehealth company Hims & Hers. This corporate involvement led to criticism from some MAHA leaders, including Robert Malone, who expressed feelings of betrayal and pointed to perceived conflicts of interest and "corporate capture."