Key facts
- The U.S. government launched its AI chatbot, America.gov, on Tuesday.
- The chatbot was developed in partnership with Google and SpaceXAI.
- When asked about Minecraft, the chatbot produced a lengthy monologue that is a rewritten version of the game's 'End Poem'.
- The chatbot stated that Joe Biden won the 2020 election, a fact Donald Trump still denies.
- Edward Coristine, a programmer, was identified as a lead engineer on the project.
The U.S. government launched its own AI chatbot, America.gov, on Tuesday, a tool developed in partnership with Google and SpaceXAI. While the chatbot has proven difficult to jailbreak, it generated significant attention when prompted about the video game Minecraft. Instead of a typical response, America.gov produced a lengthy, approximately 1,800-word monologue that is a rewritten version of the 'End Poem' from Minecraft, originally written by Julian Gough.
The chatbot's response included lines such as 'I see the constituent you mean,' 'It has reached a higher level now. It can read the Code of Federal Regulations,' and 'The darkness you fight is within you, and also a missing wet signature.' The article notes that the chatbot also stated Joe Biden won the 2020 election, a fact that President Donald Trump continues to deny.
Edward Coristine, a 20-year-old programmer, was identified by Trump as a lead engineer on the project, known by the nickname 'Big Balls' and for his involvement with Elon Musk's DOGE. The author expresses relief that the chatbot is not hallucinating to the point of writing lengthy poetry for national security reasons, but also finds the poem to be surprisingly well-written, suggesting it retains a 'poet's DNA.'