House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has demanded information from Google’s parent company regarding the involvement of the Biden administration’s influence over its Gemini AI tool.
In a letter dated March 2 to Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube, Mr. Jordan expressed concerns about potential bias in Google’s Gemini artificial intelligence model and the possible influence of President Joe Biden’s administration.
“Given that Alphabet has censored First Amendment-protected speech as a result of government agencies’ requests and demands in the past, the Committee is concerned about potential First Amendment violations that have occurred with respect to Alphabet’s Gemini model,” Mr. Jordan said.
“In light of new reporting regarding how Alphabet intentionally biased its AI model, Gemini, by giving it instructions that distort the results shared with Americans who use the model as a source for information, we write to inform you that the Committee views the subpoena as covering material relating to this technology,” the letter reads.
Earlier, Google acknowledged that its Gemini AI tool “is offering inaccuracies in some historical image generation depictions,” following backlash against the model’s seeming replacement of white people with pictures of black and Asian people in its results.
“Gemini’s AI image generation does generate a wide range of people. And that’s generally a good thing because people around the world use it. But it’s missing the mark here,” the company stated.
Following intense criticism, Google later suspended the image generation feature of the Gemini AI tool.
“We’re already working to address recent issues with Gemini’s image generation feature,” the company stated on X, formerly Twitter, on Feb. 22. “While we do this, we’re going to pause the image generation of people and will re-release an improved version soon.”
In the letter, Mr. Jordan said President Biden’s executive order on the “Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence” has influenced the Google AI model. He highlighted the order’s guidelines to “advance ... equity,” aligning with the order’s original text issued on Oct. 30, 2023, which states, “Artificial Intelligence policies must be consistent with my Administration’s dedication to advancing equity and civil rights.”
The letter also cited reports from the New York Post and the Daily Wire, indicating that Jack Krawczyk, lead of the Gemini AI team, and Jen Gennai, director of Google’s Responsible Innovation team, “expressed significant racial and political bias.”
Mr. Jordan noted that these examples raise significant concerns about the Biden administration “engaging in censorship by proxy—using surrogates to censor, suppress, or discourage speech in a manner that the government is unable to do itself.”
The committee then asked Alphabet to provide “all documents and communications relating to the inputs and content moderation” for Google Gemini’s AI image and text generation, “including those relating to promoting or advancing diversity, equity, or inclusion.”
It also requested that the company provide information communications between the Biden administration and Alphabet “relating to the creation, development, training, or deployment” or “the inputs and content moderation for Gemini’s AI relating to the promotion or demotion of certain content.”
In addition, Mr. Jordan also requested that Google AI team leaders “appear for transcribed interviews with the committee.”
Last year, the House Judiciary Committee accused YouTube of censoring information related to COVID-19 and vaccinations on its platform as requested by the Biden administration, according to Fox News.
A spokesperson for Google told The Epoch Times, “We have received the Committee’s request and will engage constructively.”
