AI Chatbots Increasingly Push Partisan Information as Midterms Loom

Artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly important part of the U.S. political information landscape, and a new analysis suggests that voters using AI tools to research candidates may encounter partisan material without realizing it. 

A NewsGuard audit found that seven widely used AI systems cited websites presenting themselves as local news organizations in 48% of responses to questions about election candidates and campaign issues covered by the outlets. The chatbots cited the sites as the sole sources in 7.7% of cases, although additional sources appeared elsewhere in the results. 

The study examined 168 search queries drawn from coverage published by 12 so-called “pink slime” news sites, with six linked to Democratic groups and six connected to Republican organizations. The sites covered races and political issues in Ohio, Iowa, Georgia, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Alaska. 

ChatGPT had the highest citation rate, with such outlets appearing in 70.8% of its responses. Copilot and Perplexity each recorded 54.2%, followed by Claude at 50%, Gemini at 41.7%, Meta AI at 37.5%, and Grok at 29.2%. 

NewsGuard also found a significant difference in citations based on political orientation. Left-leaning outlets appeared in 36% of responses, compared with 12% for right-leaning sites. Researchers cautioned that the gap may reflect publishing frequency rather than political bias within the AI systems. Some of the more frequently cited left-leaning outlets were publishing almost daily during the period studied, while several conservative sites published nothing during the same week. 

The term “pink slime” refers to websites that resemble conventional local news organizations but receive funding or direction from ideological or political interests without clearly disclosing those connections to readers. NewsGuard said it had identified 1,179 such U.S. sites by September 2026. 

The sites have also used social media advertising to expand their reach. According to Meta’s advertising data, networks associated with American Independent Media spent roughly $430,000 on Instagram and Facebook promotions in 2026, generating 38.9 million views. A network operated by One Nation spent about $596,000, with its advertisements receiving 58.6 million combined views. 

The audit found that chatbots rarely warned users about the political affiliations of the sources they cited. Only one of the 168 responses explicitly identified a cited outlet as partisan. 

The findings raise questions about how AI-generated answers can affect political information. A voter may first encounter a partisan article through social media, then ask an AI system for clarification. If the chatbot cites that same outlet without explaining its funding or political ties, the material may appear more independent than it actually is. 

NewsGuard also tested Google’s AI-generated search summaries. Its analysis found that pink slime sites appeared in 12 of 24 responses, or half of the queries tested. 

The study’s authors argue that AI can give partisan publishers a wider audience by repeating their material in responses that carry the appearance of neutral, authoritative information. With the 2026 midterm elections approaching, that dynamic could become increasingly significant as more voters turn to AI systems for political information. 

This study highlights how pervasive AI has become in various everyday activities. One wonders whether consumers of products from entities like Core AI Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CHAI) can still tell the difference between a game largely created using AI and one fully developed by humans. 

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