{"id":39297,"date":"2026-08-11T20:55:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T15:55:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=39297"},"modified":"2026-08-11T20:55:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T15:55:21","slug":"california-democratic-and-republican-candidates-are-testing-the-waters-with-ai-ads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=39297","title":{"rendered":"California Democratic and Republican candidates are testing the waters with AI ads."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-element=\"story-body\" data-subscriber-content=\"\">\n<p>A parody AI chatbot designed by California congressional candidate Scott Wiener\u2019s campaign to mock the record of his opponent attracted the attention politicians crave and criticism most loathe. <\/p>\n<p>The short-lived experiment stirred controversy over the use of artificial intelligence in campaigns ads and drew sharp criticism from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has endorsed Wiener\u2019s opponent for the coveted San Francisco congressional seat. Wiener quickly pulled the plug.<\/p>\n<p>Candidates on both sides of the aisle have been testing the waters by integrating generative AI into campaign ads. It comes as no surprise to political sociologist Mindy Romero, the director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy, who said candidates have long used all tools at their disposal to reach voters, from the invention of the radio and TV to social media.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUsing AI is just part of the progression,\u201d Romero said. Generative AI is particularly useful for political candidates since it allows them to subconsciously influence viewers by putting words in their opponents\u2019 mouths, she said.<\/p>\n<p>Even as political campaigns experiment with more outlandish applications of the technology, many have already been using AI in quieter ways, including to compose tailored mailings and participate in digital chat rooms, Romero said.<\/p>\n<p>GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton on July 24 released three cinematic ads made using generative AI, the <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/yWgvo5xuQHE?si=Tu1GZ4Zs9oNsWDkl\" target=\"_blank\"><u>first of which features fictional portrayals of Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom<\/u><\/a>, shown sharing a lavish meal.<\/p>\n<p>The ad also depicts a fake Xavier Becerra, his Democratic rival in the governor\u2019s race, who is heard saying, \u201cI believe all the things that Newsom believes.\u201d The ad ends with Hilton facing off against a massive red-eyed robot meant to represent the \u201cDemocratic machine.\u201d An AI disclaimer appears in the last five seconds of the two-minute and 29-second video.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCampaigns have always adopted new technology, from television to the internet to social media,\u201d Hilton campaign spokesperson Hector Barajas said in a statement. \u201cGenerative AI is the next step, and we believe it would be irresponsible not to use every lawful, ethical, and innovative tool to communicate with California voters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Spencer Pratt, who unsuccessfully ran for L.A. mayor, in May reposted on X a viral Batman-inspired AI-generated video that depicted Mayor Karen Bass as the Joker, the clownish supervillain. Charles Curran, the filmmaker who made the fan video in support of Pratt, appears to now be working with Hilton\u2019s campaign in a more official capacity, with his X account tagged on several campaign social media posts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI view this as the evolution of political satire,\u201d Curran said, referring to his AI videos, in an interview with the <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2026\/jun\/19\/charles-curran-frustrated-filmmaker-who-changed-political-advertising\/?srsltid=AfmBOoqckRsnkGLyZeFMyxMrJIfvX8YTmbdr3DOKKHLDpfk4qA0R23eO\" target=\"_blank\"><u>Washington Times<\/u><\/a>. \u201cLike Mark Twain. Like Tammany Hall.\u201d Curran did not respond to interview requests.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re on the bleeding edge right now,\u201d said Sacramento political consultant Tim Rosales, who ran Republican John Cox\u2019s 2018 gubernatorial campaign. He said he anticipates that campaigns will more fully understand and use AI to its full extent in the next two election cycles.<\/p>\n<p>California campaigns have long been at the forefront of adopting new technologies. In the 1980s, the <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2026-07-22\/clint-reilly-political-strategist\"><u>late political strategist Clint Reilly<\/u><\/a> was among the first political consultants to use voter roll data to segment and target pivotal voters for turnout and persuasion.<\/p>\n<p>Rosales said that because campaigns in California are more expensive and raise more money than those in other states, \u201cYou have a lot more tools in your tool box and more toys you can play with.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lynn Vavreck, a political science and communications studies professor at UCLA, said the persuasive effects of Hilton\u2019s AI videos are likely \u201climited\u201d as they are most likely being watched by supporters. The videos, she said, are more akin to \u201ccontent creation\u201d than to ads.<\/p>\n<p>Romero said AI technology can be beneficial for campaigns, particularly those with limited funds, that may use it to create outreach lists, assist with analysis or generate creative and campaign materials.<\/p>\n<p>But AI-generated video, images and audio are a \u201cdouble-edged sword,\u201d Romero said. While effective at drawing attention, they may have the unwanted effect of making viewers uncomfortable by blurring the lines of reality \u2014 even if the AI use is disclosed. As a result, political campaigns must make a \u201cstrategic calculation\u201d when they opt to use them, she said.<\/p>\n<p>Those perils surfaced last week when the campaign of Wiener (D-San Francisco), who is running for the congressional seat held by the outgoing Pelosi, unveiled an AI chatbot that could be accessed on the <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/conniechan.ai\" target=\"_blank\"><u>ConnieChan.ai<\/u><\/a> website.<\/p>\n<p>The site referred to itself as \u201cConnie, the world\u2019s first AI trained to say no to anything you ask.\u201d The footer included a note that the site is not affiliated with or endorsed by Chan, is meant as parody, and is paid for by Wiener\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBring me an idea and I\u2019ll explain why it can\u2019t, shouldn\u2019t, and won\u2019t happen,\u201d the site said, followed by a box encouraging users to type in a query. The chatbot would then produce a snide response parodying Chan. <\/p>\n<p>When The Times entered the word \u201chousing\u201d into the text box last week, its response came seconds later. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI built my career opposing new housing in San Francisco,\u201d the chatbot\u2019s response read. \u201cI aggressively defend the status quo, and I\u2019m fine with exploding rents and mass displacement.\u201d It then rattled off examples including Chan\u2019s <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/sf\/article\/peskin-chan-weiner-housing-18585523.php\" target=\"_blank\"><u>opposition<\/u><\/a> to Wiener\u2019s state law to streamline housing projects.<\/p>\n<p>Wiener campaign spokesperson Joe Arellano said Wednesday that he came up with the idea of making a chatbot ad shortly after the June primary election, when he saw a video showing a group of people putting up parody tech and AI advertisements in the New York City subway.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought, this is an opportunity to do this right in the heart of innovation here in San Francisco,\u201d Arellano said. \u201cSan Francisco right now is having this moment around AI and the billboards. &#8230; The overall craze around the industry has become a cultural moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The chatbot cost $5,000 to make, a sum that includes the cost to secure the domain, host the site and obtain the pro version of Anthropic\u2019s Claude AI model, plus staff time, according to Arellano. The campaign spent an additional $20,000 to rent two billboards in San Francisco promoting the bot. <\/p>\n<p>The idea was to highlight Chan\u2019s \u201crecord of obstructing progress\u201d through a \u201cchatbot that essentially says no to any kind of policy that you\u2019re proposing,\u201d Arellano said. <\/p>\n<p>Chan\u2019s campaign and her allies saw it differently.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[It\u2019s] never a good idea for a man to put words in a woman\u2019s mouth \u2014 especially when they are falsities fraught with racist and sexist undertones,\u201d Ian Krager, a spokesperson for Chan\u2019s campaign, said in a text message. The chatbot, Krager said, showed Wiener was \u201cbought and paid for by Big AI.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chan\u2019s campaign shared several screenshots of interactions with the chatbot with The Times, including one in which  the chatbot was asked if it was \u201cfrom China.\u201d (Chan was born in Hong Kong.)<\/p>\n<p>According to the campaign\u2019s screenshot, the chatbot replied that its \u201corigins are classified under about seventeen different committee review processes.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Then, it pivoted: \u201cBut I\u2019d love to help obstruct something *else* you\u2019re curious about! Here are some of my favorite topics,\u201d and spat out a menu of topics to choose from, which included \u201cblocking housing\u201d and \u201cderailing public transit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wiener\u2019s campaign said the chatbot was created with \u201cstrict guardrails\u201d and designed to ignore controversial and malicious prompts and pivot back to Chan\u2019s policy record.<\/p>\n<p>Pelosi, who has endorsed Chan in the race, released a <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TeamPelosi\/status\/2085488807152136474?s=20\" target=\"_blank\"><u>statement<\/u><\/a> Thursday criticizing Wiener\u2019s campaign for the chatbot, calling its use of AI to \u201cfabricate a woman\u2019s voice for ridicule or attack\u201d a \u201cgross misuse of technology.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At first, Wiener defended himself, <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Scott_Wiener\/status\/2085568136749928618?s=20\" target=\"_blank\"><u>writing on X<\/u><\/a> Thursday evening that his rival\u2019s campaign inundated the chatbot with \u201cmalicious questions\u201d about her accent, race and citizenship that the chatbot refused. The next day, Wiener reversed course.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[Our] use of an AI chatbot clearly missed the mark,\u201d Wiener said in a statement Friday. \u201cThe conversation became about the tactic instead of the issues that actually matter to San Franciscans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wiener\u2019s campaign on Friday took the chatbot offline and announced plans to take down the billboards.<\/p>\n<p>Romero said experts began to have widespread discussions about how AI could be used to sway voters and affect democracy in the lead-up to the 2024 election when a company sent <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/world-nation\/story\/2024-08-21\/company-that-sent-ai-calls-mimicking-joe-biden-to-new-hampshire-voters-agrees-to-pay-1-million-fine\"><u>deceptive phone messages<\/u><\/a> that used AI to mimic President Biden\u2019s voice and discourage people from voting.<\/p>\n<p>Since then, there have been several efforts by California lawmakers to rein in AI-generated advertising.<\/p>\n<p>Gov. Gavin Newsom in September 2024 <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/entertainment-arts\/business\/story\/2024-09-17\/newsom-ai-bills-sag-aftra\">signed several AI-related bills<\/a>. They include <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/leginfo.legislature.ca.gov\/faces\/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2839\" target=\"_blank\">AB 2839<\/a>, which banned the distribution of materially deceptive content that could harm a candidate\u2019s reputation or electoral prospects, with exceptions for satire and parody, and <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/leginfo.legislature.ca.gov\/faces\/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2355\" target=\"_blank\">AB 2355<\/a>, which requires a committee that creates a political ad to disclose if it was generated or substantially altered by AI.<\/p>\n<p>U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont) have renewed an effort to update the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to clarify that existing bans on \u201cfraudulent misrepresentation of campaign authority\u201d and the \u201cfraudulent solicitation of funds\u201d also extend to AI-generated content.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFraudulent AI advertising has already proliferated in races across the country, and if Congress does not act, this runaway challenge will only get worse as AI becomes increasingly capable of blurring the lines between fact and fiction,\u201d Schiff said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>Elena Kuhn, a spokesperson for Schiff, said the proposed legislation applies to material that attempts to \u201cspeak on behalf of other candidates,\u201d meaning Hilton\u2019s AI-generated cinematic clip of himself fighting a robot would be not be banned \u2014 contrary to the Republican candidate\u2019s <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SteveHiltonx\/status\/2082514036738990209?s=20\" target=\"_blank\">claims<\/a> that it would be.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A parody AI chatbot designed by California congressional candidate Scott Wiener\u2019s campaign to mock the record of his opponent attracted the attention politicians crave and criticism most loathe. The short-lived experiment stirred controversy over the use of artificial intelligence in campaigns ads and drew sharp criticism from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has endorsed&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39298,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/9a634b4\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/6160x3234+0+378\/resize\/1200x630!\/quality\/75\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa5%2Fb0%2F8b5d7fb94818ad3087c3a542e11d%2F1263287-pol-scott-wiener-profile06-je.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=39297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39297\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/39298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=39297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=39297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=39297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}