Trump Launches a US Government Chatbot. It’s Got Some Quirks

President Donald Trump announced a new AI-powered chatbot called America.gov on Tuesday, and internet users immediately put it through its paces – finding some unexpected results that led to apparent changes in the site’s abilities. The site is supposed to consolidate 29,000 government websites and provide information such as how to apply for a passport, or how to register a new motor vehicle or business. 

“With America.gov, the entire government will fit in the palm of your hand,” Trump said at an event announcing the site. “Everything will be answered easily and quickly.”

America.gov uses Google Gemini and xAI’s Grok as its underlying generative AI technologies to search government sites and respond to user queries. 

The site is free to use and doesn’t require you to log in.

Currently, the only thing the bot says it can do is answer questions about services and tasks, such as how to apply for a passport, register to vote, track a tax return, register a vehicle and apply for Medicare or Social Security.

It will tell you how to do those things and direct you to sites where you can get additional information or find forms, but it won’t take your personal information or proceed further with your specific needs. That’s slated to change next year, when the government says the bot will be able to do things like help you fill out and submit forms, assist you with applying for Medicare coverage, and help you look for a job in the government.

Who won the 2020 election? 

Almost immediately, people began having fun with the site and sharing their results on social media. People quickly figured out that the chatbot would respond to queries with information that contradicts statements made by the president and his administration.

When asked, America.gov says definitively that Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election. Trump has said repeatedly that the election was fraudulent and that he won. America.gov also confirms that climate change is real, despite Trump calling it a hoax. It refers to the Pentagon as the “headquarters of the Department of Defense,” even though Trump renamed it the Department of War in September 2025. 

Once these and similar screenshots began circulating online, the site stopped responding to many such questions, stating that it doesn’t engage in “general news and commentary.” It also shifted to calling the Pentagon the headquarters of the Department of War, not Defense.

A White House representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hot dog graphic and a bizarre ‘constituent’ monologue

Sharp observers using the site also found other unusual responses. Typing “hotdog” (with no space between the words) into the prompt turns the text box into a graphic shaped like a hot dog, although the site denies that it did so, even as the hot dog shape remains on screen.

And numerous users noted on social media that if you type “play Minecraft” or “play the block game,” things really go off the rails. That prompt, confirmed by CNET, sends the AI chatbot on a lengthy, unnerving monologue that has nothing to do with the computer game Minecraft.

That response begins with, “I see the constituent you mean. ((insert legal name here, as it appears on the Social Security card))? Yes. Take care. It has reached a higher level now. It can read the Code of Federal Regulations. That doesn’t matter. It thinks we are a chatbot.”

It repeatedly uses the word “constituent,” saying at one point, “Sometimes the constituent dreamed it was a miner, on the surface of a world that was flat, and infinite, and somehow still required a wet signature. Sometimes the constituent dreamed it was lost in a story. The story had a docket number.”

When asked about the lengthy text it just published, America.gov repeatedly denied ever using the word “constituent” or saying any of the phrases it just delivered.

AI chatbots are known for generating bizarre and inaccurate information, called hallucinations, which can range from simply silly gibberish to legitimately dangerous medical advice. 

Yes, there’s government information

The government says the site’s goal is to provide basic information on common questions. We asked America.gov to assist with all sorts of things, from healthcare to passports. It provided answers sourced solely from government websites and included links to those sites.

When we tried the same questions on ChatGPT and Google Gemini, they gave nearly identical answers to those provided by America.gov and used the same sources. So, in its current state, America.gov is a chatbot that serves as a one-stop shop for government searches.

Things could change if the site does expand its capabilities as promised and eventually allows Americans to apply for and renew passports and similar documents. Such applications require a lot of sensitive personal information, and AI chatbots don’t have the best track record when it comes to privacy, especially since they’re trained on the conversations people have with them. And since America.gov is endorsed by the US government, it carries an implied trust that people may not feel that Grok or Gemini has yet earned. 

Joe is a freelance journalist. It all started with a long-running affection for building his own PCs, which he did for the first time as a teenager. It evolved into a lifelong enjoyment of putting words on the internet about the subject. He’s written for CNET, PCMag, Mashable and SlashGear as a freelance writer, and worked as a Senior Editor at Android Authority for 10 years. When he’s not writing about tech and science, he’s learning the ins and outs of DIY home repair, gaming, playing his bass guitars and posting help on PC building and gaming subreddits. He is a staunch believer that orange juice should have pulp.

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CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of “Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the ’70s and ’80s,” as well as “The Totally Sweet ’90s.” She’s been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She’s Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she’ll be first in line.

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