Perplexity, an AI startup, has launched a new election information hub to provide live updates on the 2024 US election results. Powered by data from the Associated Press, the hub aims to offer comprehensive and reliable information to voters. This initiative comes as Americans head to the polls on Tuesday.
Perplexity stated its commitment to supporting informed voters, emphasizing the hub as a central resource for understanding key issues, making informed voting decisions, and tracking real-time election results. The hub covers the presidential election, as well as senate and house races at both state and national levels.
Users can access information on various election-related topics, including voter registration, polling locations, and voting times. The platform also offers AI-summarized analyses of ballot measures and candidates, presenting official policy positions and endorsements.
Perplexity emphasizes its reliance on trustworthy sources, primarily the Associated Press and Democracy Works, the same source powering Google’s election search results. They’ve also included data from non-partisan and fact-checked organizations like Ballotpedia and reputable news outlets. A Perplexity representative confirmed to The Verge that the company actively monitors its systems to prioritize these sources for election-related queries.
Perplexity’s approach to election information stands out among AI chatbots. OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Anthropic’s Claude avoid answering election-related questions, likely to prevent potential misinformation or “hallucinations,” a common issue with current generative AI models.
This cautious approach is understandable given a July study by the Center for Democracy and Technology, which revealed that over a third of election-related responses from AI chatbots contained inaccuracies and misinformation.
However, Perplexity itself is currently facing a lawsuit from News Corp for alleged copyright infringement. News Corp claims Perplexity scraped content from the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, and that the chatbot sometimes fabricated information and attributed it to their publications.
Perplexity has also been accused of infringing on Forbes’ content and has received cease and desist letters from The New York Times and Conde Nast regarding similar concerns.
A video showing Perplexity
