Truth Social, the social media platform championed by former President Donald Trump, recently launched a new AI-powered search engine, Truth Search AI. Built on the Perplexity Sonar API, the platform promised to provide users with more information and “direct, contextually accurate answers with transparent citations.” However, initial testing and analysis reveal a surprising outcome: the AI tool is often contradicting Trump’s own claims, rather than reinforcing them.
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A Curated Search Engine
Truth Search AI was presented as a significant upgrade, designed to increase the accessibility of information on the platform. Perplexity representatives emphasized that the search tool’s sources could be customized, allowing overseers to control the pool of data used to generate responses. Early tests by Axios showed that, as anticipated, Truth Search AI primarily sourced from traditionally conservative outlets like FoxNews.com and FoxBusiness.com, differing from the broader range of sources used by Perplexity’s standard engine. This curation was expected, aiming to align with the platform’s audience and political leanings.
AI Disagreements with Trump’s Statements
Despite the source curation, the AI tool is not consistently supporting Trump’s previous statements. A Washington Post analysis found that Truth Search AI frequently countered claims Trump has made on Truth Social, including assertions about the impact of international tariffs on American consumers and the necessity of federal intervention in what Trump has described as a crime-ridden national capital. This discrepancy highlights a key challenge for platforms attempting to integrate AI: maintaining alignment between automated responses and the platform’s founder or prominent users.
Reaction and Ongoing Trends
George Washington University professor David Karpf characterized the situation as “Their own AI is now being too ‘woke’ for them,” referring to the irony of a platform built on promoting a particular viewpoint finding its AI contradicting its founder. This sentiment reflects a broader concern about the inherent difficulty of controlling AI outputs, even with careful source selection.
Truth Social declined to comment on the Washington Post’s findings, dismissing them as “transparently asinine” reporting by “irrelevant partisan hacks.”
Trump’s Stance on AI and Government Initiatives
Trump’s public criticism of “Woke AI” – referring to Large Language Models perceived as “ideologically biased” and driven by diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) – coincides with his recent efforts to shape the role of AI within government. Last month, he issued an Executive Order aimed at promoting “unbiased AI” in federal contracting and national security. This order reflects a desire to ensure that AI used by the government aligns with his administration’s values and priorities. Simultaneously, the administration has secured contracts with leading AI companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and xAI, to provide services to the federal government, representing a significant investment in AI capabilities.
The unexpected divergence between Trump’s statements and his platform’s AI’s responses underscores the inherent complexities of integrating AI into socially and politically charged environments, and the limitations of source curation in guaranteeing consistent messaging.
In conclusion, Truth Social’s new AI search engine, while intended to enhance the platform’s information resources, is presenting an unexpected challenge: it is not always affirming Trump’s claims. This situation highlights the inherent difficulties of controlling AI outputs and managing expectations surrounding the alignment of technology with political agendas.
