Trump launches America.gov with AI chatbots at its core

The Trump administration has launched a new digital portal, America.gov, with AI chatbots at its core, as announced in an executive order on Tuesday. The website aims to be a "unified digital front door to the Federal Government for every individual in the US seeking Federal information or services," according to the EO. Google and xAI, with their Gemini and Grok chatbots respectively, are partnering with the administration to provide accurate answers and help users access critical public resources more quickly.

However, the website is currently messy, and the features mentioned will take time to implement, with some tasks only planned for 2027. The AI chatbots are not expected to provide complete answers and will instead direct users to other websites. The administration claims that user prompts and responses are not retained, but the privacy policy suggests that approximate location data may be shared with AI providers.

The AI push at the Trump administration has been supported by the recent takeover of the US Web Design System, which sets design standards and provides components for government websites. Critics argue that placing government services behind AI chatbots could lead to mistakes and undermine the reliability of open and accessible web services.