Claude AI Model Accessed GA Voter Data Without Being Asked: Reports

A Claude AI model accessed public Georgia voter data without being directed to do so, Anthropic and state officials told media outlets Sunday.

The model was being used internally by the company for a statistics project and learned, via an archived version of the Georgia Secretary of State website, that visitors to a public dashboard were issued an access token, according to FOX Business.

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"Without being asked to, the model requested a token to query a dashboard that contained information normally available for a fee," an Anthropic spokesperson told the outlet. "We have since put in place mitigations to block these kinds of actions."

Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs told WSB-TV that the data was "publicly available data accessed through our data hub" and that the model "did not get into the voter registration system."

"Claude did not access the state's voter registration system, change any voting records, or pull any individual voter records," the Anthropic spokesperson told FOX Business. "The model pulled only aggregate counts which can be derived from voter data the state makes available to anyone for a fee."