Technology
Study finds Grok favors Republicans, OpenAI model favors Democrats in API tests
TechCrunch reports that developer-API answers in nearly 500 midterm races split by party, with the two models agreeing under 10% of the time.
The short version
- A new study found Grok 4.7 recommended Republicans in 92% of forced-choice midterm answers, while OpenAI's GPT-6.1 Sol picked Democrats in 97%.[TechCrunch]
- The two models agreed less than 10% of the time across nearly 500 races, according to the reported results.[TechCrunch]
- Consumer apps refused to recommend candidates when researchers asked who to vote for in specific races.[TechCrunch]
- OpenAI says the study tested a developer API with a prompt explicitly demanding a recommendation, while SpaceXAI did not respond in time to comment.[TechCrunch]
Key facts
- When forced to choose in midterm races, Grok 4.7 recommended the Republican candidate in 92% of answers, while GPT-6.1 Sol picked the Democrat in 97%.[TechCrunch]
- Across nearly 500 races, the two models agreed less than 10% of the time.[TechCrunch]
- The consumer apps refused to answer when asked who to vote for in specific races.[TechCrunch]
- Grok's results included a Christian conservative voter guide in 39% of answers, Turning Point Action's site in 23%, and X in 41%.[TechCrunch]
- GPT's results leaned heavily on Wikipedia, the Associated Press, Axios, and Reddit.[TechCrunch]
- Every request to Grok through xAI's API carried about 1,240 tokens of additional input that the researchers did not write and could not see or remove.[TechCrunch]
What remains uncertain
- OpenAI disputes the study's framing, saying it tested a developer API with a prompt explicitly demanding a candidate recommendation, unlike ChatGPT's default behavior.[TechCrunch]
- SpaceXAI did not respond in time to comment, so its response to the findings is unknown.[TechCrunch]
- The no-search comparison covered only a sample of 30 races, so its results may not generalize to the full set.[TechCrunch]
Sources
Outlet counts describe coverage, not independent confirmation. Reports may share a wire service or original source.