An unauthorized search of voting data in the state of Georgia by Anthropic's artificial intelligence programs raised alarm bells just weeks before election day.
Now, Georgia officials are reassuring voters the breach only accessed publicly available data, and no secure information was accessed.
“This isn’t news. Anthropic’s AI agent accessed information anyone can find publicly. Accessing public information is not a hack, and pretending otherwise is reckless and dangerous,” Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in an Oct. 26 statement. “Georgia is consistently recognized as having some of the most secure elections in the country, with voting systems not connected to the internet designed to prevent fraud, paper-ballots, and risk-limiting
audits. Twisting this into a security scare for clicks undermines confidence in our elections and is absolutely shameful.”
Here's what we know.
Georgia officials release timeline of Anthropic search
According to the Secretary of State's Office, Anthropic reached out to the agency on Oct. 8 to "express concerns about its AI agent accessing the state's publicly available data on Georgia's Data Hub" in what was a non-instructed search.
The agency investigated the search on the same day, and found the AI only accessed data that was otherwise publicly available and held no personal information about voters.
The White House reached out to the state the next day, and state officials assured the administration it was "clear this was not the voter registration system."
Both the Secretary of State's Office and Anthropic conducted internal investigations of the search, and a report found no voter lists were accessed and the AI did not bypass a paywall, despite earlier reporting that it had.
"Georgia has spent years strengthening election security while making election data more transparent and accessible to the public," Raffensperger said.
Georgia's Data Hub is widely accessible on the Secretary of State website, and open for anyone to search.
Trump continues 2020 election denial in Georgia appearances
Election integrity is a loaded topic in Georgia, given the tense history between Raffensperger and President Donald Trump.
The president notoriously called the Secretary of State following the results of the 2020 election in Georgia, asking for him to "find" more than 11,000 votes and swing the election in his favor. Georgia officials instead certified the election results.
The president has continued to assert that the 2020 election in Georgia was stolen in appearances in the state in the lead-up to the midterms.
"It was a rigged election, you know that. And David (Purdue) actually won that election (against Jon Ossoff) and he won by a lot," Trump said during a rally in Dalton, Georgia on Oct. 16. "And I also won the election in Georgia, we won it by a lot if you remember. What a mess that was."
Georgia was ranked second in the nation for election integrity by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, and earned accolades from the Center for Election Innovation and Research and the Bipartisan Policy Center.
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Irene Wright covers elections in Georgia as the Atlanta Connect reporter with USA Today’s Deep South Connect team. Find her on X @IreneEWright or email her at ismith@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: AI data search was 'not a hack,' Georgia officials reassure voters
