Perplexity Launches Election Information Hub Ahead of U.S. Voting
As Americans prepare to head to the polls this Tuesday, the AI startup Perplexity is unveiling a dedicated election information hub. This new resource, powered by data from the Associated Press, aims to provide real-time election results and updates.
On Friday, the company stated, “We want to contribute to an informed electorate, which is why we developed the election hub using Perplexity’s answer engine. This platform will serve as a gateway to understanding important issues, making informed voting decisions, and keeping up with the election outcomes.”
The hub will cover a range of topics related to the U.S. presidential election, as well as state and national contests for the Senate and House of Representatives. Users will be able to inquire about various election-related subjects, like voting requirements, how to locate polling places, and polling hours. Additionally, users can access AI-generated, concise analyses of ballot measures and candidates, including their official policy positions and endorsements.
To ensure the reliability of the information provided, Perplexity is utilizing a carefully curated selection of credible and informative sources. This includes the AP and Democracy Works, which also supports Google’s election search results. A representative from Perplexity shared with The Verge, “We have chosen non-partisan and fact-checked domains, such as Ballotpedia and various news organizations. We are continuously monitoring our systems to maintain our focus on these authoritative sources when addressing election inquiries.”
Perplexity’s approach stands out among its chatbot competitors. Unlike OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which refrains from addressing election-related questions and directs users to AP and Reuters, Perplexity is fully engaged in this area. Both Google’s Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude similarly avoid discussing elections to sidestep the erroneous outcomes that often plague generative AI systems.
A recent study by the Center for Democracy and Technology revealed that over one-third of responses to 77 election-related questions posed to AI chatbots contained inaccuracies or misinformation.
However, Perplexity is facing legal challenges, including a lawsuit from News Corp alleging “massive copyright violations.” The claim states that the company’s chatbot scraped news, opinions, and analyses directly from the Wall Street Journal and New York Post, publications owned by News Corp. The publisher argues that Perplexity’s AI has routinely produced inaccurate information, falsely citing sources or fabricating news stories altogether.
In addition, Perplexity has been accused of willfully infringing on content from Forbes and has received cease and desist letters from both The New York Times and Conde Nast concerning its practices.
