A ChatGPT-generated error was behind Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro's brief claim that he was the country's rightful president-elect, a close ally of the right-wing lawmaker has said, explaining why the controversial phrase appeared in a letter that was later deleted and revised.
Paulo Figueiredo, a right-wing influencer and podcast host who acts as an unofficial spokesperson for the Bolsonaro family in the United States, said OpenAI's ChatGPT had incorporated an outdated draft while helping prepare the letter. He maintained that the error did not change Flavio Bolsonaro's position that Brazil's recent election was illegitimate.
The senator had sparked a political controversy on Wednesday by describing himself as Brazil's rightful president-elect and alleging, without evidence, that Sunday's runoff election had been affected by fraud. He lost the contest to leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva by more than four million votes.
About an hour after posting the letter on social media, Bolsonaro deleted it and uploaded a revised version, replacing president-elect with leader of Brazil.
ChatGPT allegedly brought back an earlier draft
The sudden change triggered speculation among Brazilian political observers, and Figueiredo subsequently attributed the discrepancy to the use of artificial intelligence during the drafting process. According to Figueiredo, the letter had gone through several versions and included inputs from multiple people, and Bolsonaro's younger brother, former Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, had sought ChatGPT's assistance in preparing its final version.
However, the chatbot allegedly inserted an earlier draft of the letter and an outdated version of Brazil's coat of arms. Figueiredo wrote on social media that when generating the document, the AI ended up including an earlier version of the text in which Flavio presented himself as the true president-elect, and said the errors were spotted only after he had circulated the letter among journalists.
Figueiredo said Bolsonaro eventually chose the word leader for legal and moral reasons, played down the incident by saying those involved found the mistake hilarious, and described the subsequent changes to the letter as nothing major. OpenAI and Bolsonaro's press officers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Despite the correction, Figueiredo insisted that the senator's position on the election remained unchanged: that the elections were illegitimate, that he does not recognise the result, and that he will continue fighting to restore democracy in Brazil.
Bolsonaro faces growing political isolation
The controversy comes as Flavio Bolsonaro faces mounting political and legal challenges. The senator arrived in Miami on Wednesday after leaving Brazil, having refused to comply with a Supreme Court order to surrender his passports as part of an investigation into alleged money laundering. He denies any wrongdoing.
His declaration that he was the country's rightful leader has also failed to attract backing from key figures within his political camp, leaving him increasingly isolated. Meanwhile, Lula's victory has been recognised by Brazil's federal electoral court, international leaders and election observers, as well as Bolsonaro's own political party.
