Well, if AI said it, it must be true

Skip to main contentNJ’s lieutenant governor resigned over a sexual harassment investigation, but insists AI says he’s innocent.NJ’s lieutenant governor resigned over a sexual harassment investigation, but insists AI says he’s innocent.by Oct 4, 2026, 4:16 PM UTCTerrence O'Brien is the Verge’s weekend editor. He’s covered the tech industry for over 18 years and knows a thing or two about synths.New Jersey’s lieutenant governor Dale Caldwell was forced to resign on September 25th after an investigation found he had sexually harassed a staffer and repeatedly violated ethics rules. The now-former Lt. governor has been making the media rounds trying to clear his name. But he took a particularly odd tactic during an interview on NJ PBS.Caldwell claims he’s being unfairly targeted, and multiple AI agents back that up. He told host Rob Nelson that he “AIed” the report on the investigation “from multiple AI platforms.” “I put it through AI,” he said, “and it said 59 times, it [sic] said, ‘What would your findings be?’ There was no instance in any of the AIs that said there would be a finding of sexual harassment.”AI chatbots are notoriously sycophantic and often tell users what they want to hear. And it seems highly unlikely that Caldwell would want to hear an AI confirm findings that he engaged in sexual harassment.Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.Terrence O'BrienThe Verge DailyA free daily digest of the news that matters most.