SEPTEMBER 16: In this photo illustration, the icon for the AI app “Claude” by Anthropic is seen through a flame as it is displayed on a digital screen on September 16, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Leon Neal/
WASHINGTON (TNND) —Anthropic’s Claude artificial intelligence model accessed publicly available voter data in Georgia by bypassing a paywall, according to an Axios report and details later disclosed by the company.
The incident drew attention not so much for what information was obtained, but for how it was obtained. (TNND)
An Anthropic spokesperson said the model did not access Georgia’s voter registration system and did not change any voter records. The spokesperson also said the model did not pull any individual voter records, and that the model pulled only aggregate counts which can be derived from voter data the state makes available to anyone for a fee.
So what they accessed is actually not a problem or concerning. It’s more how they did,” said Annie Chestnut, a policy analyst at the Center for Technology and the Human Person at the Heritage Foundation.
Chestnut Tutor said the concern is the potential for misuse if advanced AI systems can be used to break into other systems. “Because we don’t want bad actors to be able to access such an advanced model to be able to intentionally hack into another system,” she said.
Anthropic previously disclosed the incident in an Oct. 9 report, but did not identify Georgia or name the organizations involved, saying it did so to “avoid exposing vulnerabilities in their systems and at their request.” The report said the company briefed the White House on what it found and notified each agency involved.
Georgia’s secretary of state Brad Raffensperger responded to the disclosure by saying accessing public information is not a hack, and that pretending otherwise is reckless and dangerous. The secretary of state’s office said, “Georgia is consistently recognized as having some of the most secure elections in the country, with voting systems not connected to the internet designed to prevent fraud, paper ballots, and risk-limiting audits.”
The disclosure comes as Anthropic prepares for a stock market debut, filing for an initial public offering Monday, and as concerns continue to grow about AI safety ahead of the midterm elections. Chestnut Tutor said the situation underscores the need for safeguards and oversight. “While it is on them to build safe models and to be testing them as they are and put safeguards, I think we also need external guardrails,” she said.
NPR reported that analysts predict Anthropic’s public debut could happen as early as mid-November.
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