Scott Wiener AI chatbot controversy draws Pelosi criticism

State Senator Scott Wiener’s campaign released an AI chatbot, ConnieChan.ai, that mimics rival Supervisor Connie Chan and is programmed to refuse any question. The bot generated a response mocking Chan’s accent, prompting accusations that the tool is sexist and racist. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, joined by Representatives Zoe Lofgren, Grace Meng, Jill Tokuda and Judy Chu, as well as local supervisors, sent a letter condemning the chatbot as a “gross misuse of technology” that reinforces harmful racial stereotypes against a woman of color. The dispute unfolds amid a tightly contested race to succeed Pelosi in Congress, with recent polls showing the contest between Wiener and Chan essentially tied.

The letter argues that the chatbot puts words in a woman’s mouth and erodes decades of progress for women’s agency in politics. Wiener’s team contends the offensive reply resulted from coordinated attempts by Chan’s campaign to provoke the bot with repeated questions about accent, race, gender, appearance and citizenship.