Image credit: Grox/X

In a rather awkward turn of events, Meta's AI chatbot has been caught in a time warp, claiming Joe Biden is still the U.S. President, despite Donald Trump being inaugurated just days ago.

This mix-up has thrown Meta into a frenzy, marking the issue as an urgent "site event" (SEV) that needs fixing.

The confusion came to light when Reuters asked the chatbot about the current president, and it confidently declared, "The current president of the United States is Joe Biden. However, according to the most recent information available, Donald Trump was sworn in as the president on January 20, 2025."

Clearly, someone or something didn't get the memo about the change in administration.

Daniel Roberts, speaking for Meta, didn't mince words, stating, "Everyone knows the President of the United States is Donald Trump. All generative AI systems sometimes return outdated results, and we will continue to improve our features."

Yet, he sidestepped details on how they're tackling this glitch.

This isn't the first hiccup Meta's faced since the transition. It's been a week of headaches, with this being the third emergency procedure prompted by issues related to the new administration.

The social media giant has been under the microscope, especially after CEO Mark Zuckerberg showed up at Trump's inauguration, signaling a pivot towards better relations with the new government.

This included axing its U.S. fact-checking program, promoting Republican Joel Kaplan to a top global affairs role, adding a Trump ally to its board, and quietly ending diversity initiatives.

Adding insult to injury, some users found themselves mysteriously re-following Trump, VP JD Vance, and Melania Trump on Meta's platforms, despite having previously hit the unfollow button.

This was chalked up to a bungled account transfer during the presidential handover.

And if that wasn't enough, Instagram users hit another snag where searches for #Democrat and #Democrats were blocked, while #Republican searches sailed through. Meta admitted to the glitch but clarified it wasn't just a one-sided issue, affecting various hashtag searches.

Meta's week of digital blunders has spotlighted how even tech giants can stumble, especially during politically charged times when every detail is scrutinized for signs of bias or mismanagement.

They're now scrambling to ensure their AI doesn't continue to live in the past, as they navigate the new political landscape.

‍