Japan’s DPFP Leader Yuichiro Tamaki Forced to Shut Down Site that Used ChatGPT; OpenAI Reportedly Told Tamaki Site Violated Company Terms, Conditions

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:50 JST, August 13, 2024

The Democratic Party for the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki was forced to shut down his policies website “AI Yuichiro,” which used ChatGPT, less than one month after it launched.

Ahead of the Tokyo gubernatorial election held in July, AI-generated news anchor “AI Yuriko,” resembling Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike, who was reelected for a third term, attracted attention for presenting Koike’s policies.

Tamaki created an AI Yuichiro website to promote the DPFP and gain supporters as Koike did. However, he was told that using ChatGPT for a political campaign would violate the terms and conditions of OpenAI Inc., the operator of the generative-AI chatbot, sources said.

The DPFP’s policies and Tamaki’s past statements were inputted into AI Yuichiro, and when users asked questions on the website, the AI responded in a conversational manner. It attracted a lot of attention as AI Yuichiro’s responses resembled Tamaki’s own, and more than 100,000 questions had been asked since its launch on July 8. When asked how the party would deal with high fuel prices, the AI responded with such answers as “we will support the livelihoods of the people.”

However, the site was suspended on Aug. 2, saying that OpenAI said it prohibited political campaigns from using the AI-powered chatbot.

Tamaki will consider creating a similar site using a different AI tool in the future, the sources said.