Gov. Kemp reasserts confidence in voting security after AI review
Gov. Brian Kemp on October 26, 2026. (FOX 5)
ATLANTA - Gov. Brian Kemp voiced strong confidence in Georgia's elections following a cybersecurity review triggered by an artificial intelligence program accessing state data, emphasizing that voting equipment remains completely offline.
Local perspective:
Gov. Brian Kemp reassured voters that election equipment is thoroughly tested and sealed before balloting begins, with citizens volunteering to watch the public verification process.
RELATED: How ballots are cast and counted across Georgia
Kemp noted that voting machines are not hooked up to the internet and mentioned that state cybersecurity teams immediately addressed the recent data access reports.
"I'm still very confident in our elections process," Kemp said, adding that his team discussed the cybersecurity matters directly with state technology officials.
What we know:
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger confirmed that an artificial intelligence agent developed by Anthropic accessed publicly available data on the state's open Data Hub.
Raffensperger stressed that accessing public information is not a hack and noted that Georgia's election system relies on paper ballots and risk-limiting audits.
Anthropic told FOX Business that Claude accessed only aggregate counts and did not access Georgia's voter registration system, change voting records or retrieve individual voter records.
"Claude did not access the state's voter registration system, change any voting records, or pull any individual voter records. The model pulled only aggregate counts which can be derived from voter data the state makes available to anyone for a fee," an Anthropic spokesperson told FOX Business.
The company said the model was being used internally for a statistics project when it learned from an archived version of the agency's website that a public dashboard issued an access token to visitors.
"Without being asked to, the model requested a token to query a dashboard that contained information normally available for a fee," the spokesperson said. "We have since put in place mitigations to block these kinds of actions."
ORIGINAL STORY: AI bot linked to Anthropic accessed Georgia election data hub
Timeline:
Oct. 8: Anthropic reached out to the Secretary of State's Office after its AI agent accessed information on the public Data Hub.
Oct. 8: State investigators confirmed the AI agent only gathered publicly available data from the portal.
Oct. 9: The Secretary of State's Office briefed the White House on the investigation's findings.
Oct. 16: State officials met with Anthropic and contacted The Atlanta Journal-Constitution regarding the review.
Sunday: Axios published an article detailing the AI agent accessing public voter information.
Monday: Anthropic confirmed to state officials that the agent did not bypass paywalls or access private voter registration lists.
What we don't know:
State officials have not publicly detailed the exact datasets the AI agent reviewed while accessing the public Data Hub.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from comments provided by Gov. Brian Kemp, as well as official statements and an investigative timeline released by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Additional information comes from FOX Business. (linked above)