Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripped into a campaign chatbot earlier this month, accusing a rival’s AI creation of being “sexist” — but now female allies of the candidate behind it are firing back at Pelosi over what they call her “absurd” accusations.
California state Sen. Scott Wiener launched the chatbot earlier this month to poke fun at fellow Democrat and San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan, who has Pelosi’s endorsement in the race to succeed her.
Wiener and Chan are set to face off in November for Pelosi’s congressional seat.
The chatbot billed itself as “the world’s first AI trained to say no to anything you ask,” a knock on Chan’s reputation among critics as a progressive NIMBY who has opposed numerous housing proposals.
Both Chan and Pelosi were outraged at the chatbot tactic, and Pelosi, a California political icon, recruited other women in politics to condemn Wiener. She said using AI to impersonate a female voice is a “gross misuse of technology and reflects a disturbing willingness to erase women’s agency.”
Amid that backlash, Wiener took the chatbot down.
But powerful female leaders in San Francisco are now questioning Pelosi for her accusations, they told the San Francisco Chronicle on Friday. A “Women for Scott” rally is being held on Saturday.
“It feels like there’s a lot of fake outrage about this chatbot,” said Nancy Tung, the chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party.
“I suppose you know that’s part of the political game – to put as favorable a slant as you want to for your own purposes for each campaign,” she added.
Famed women advocate Susie Tompkins Buell labeled Pelosi’s cries of sexism as “totally absurd.”
“He is the most non-sexist, non-racist person. I don’t know who would even say that,” Buell said on Wiener. “But if it was (Pelosi), it was careless and not appropriate and not true.”
Pelosi has been very involved in the race to succeed her outside of her chatbot condemnation. Her endorsement of Chan, for instance, uplifted the supervisor past another competitor during the primary to make it into the general election against Wiener, the frontrunner.
Wiener and Pelosi have reportedly had a tense relationship ever since the state senator made it clear he’s been long eyeing her seat, even before she announced she would retire. Pelosi’s endorsement of Chan was seen as a sign of that rebuke.
Buell said she questioned why Pelosi would go out of her way to make the accusations of sexism.
“Nobody can give a good answer of why she’s doing this,” Buell said. “It’s just a mystery to so many people. Whatever it is, it is rooted in pettiness.”
Pelosi, at a Politico event on Aug. 11, dodged questions about her intervention in the race and her thoughts on Wiener. She said at that event she endorsed Chan because the former speaker wanted to see more women in Congress.
The Chan campaign in a statement to the Chronicle criticized the “Women for Scott” rally.
“It’s sad that Scott Wiener’s best answer to broad grassroots criticism of his campaign’s AI chatbot from women and people across San Francisco is to convene a rally to attack Speaker Pelosi,” a spokesperson said.
Wiener, for his part, had said the sexism claims were a “classic deflection” but took the chatbot down because it became a distraction.
Even after Pelosi endorsed his opponent, Wiener in public has still praised Pelosi.
“I have tremendous respect for Speaker Emerita Pelosi and deep gratitude for everything she has done for our city and our country,” he said after the endorsement.
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