Scott Wiener forced into screeching U-turn after Nancy Pelosi raged at Connie Chan ads

California state Sen.Scott Wiener is pulling the plug on a controversial AI chatbot and the billboards promoting it after his campaign faced a furious backlash over the parody targeting his congressional rival Connie Chan.Wiener, who is running to replace former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco’s 11th Congressional District, announced Friday his campaign would remove ConnieChan.ai, along with the ads directing voters to it.The chatbot was created as a campaign attack on Chan, portraying what Wiener said was her record on housing, public transportation and other issues.But the stunt quickly became a political headache, with Pelosi and a coalition of Democratic politicians and organizations condemning the use of artificial intelligence to imitate Chan.Wiener said his campaign had intended the chatbot to be an unconventional way of drawing attention to what he characterized as Chan’s record of “delay and obstruction.”“My campaign created ConnieChan.ai as a parody to draw attention to my opponent’s record of delay and obstruction around housing, public transit, and other critical needs,” Wiener said in a statement.

California's top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.Please provide a valid email.

By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.Never miss a story “Today, we are taking down the chatbot, and the billboards that promoted it will come down soon.”The senator acknowledged that the campaign tactic had backfired, saying the controversy had overshadowed the issues he wanted voters to focus on.“But our use of an AI chatbot clearly missed the mark,” Wiener said.

“The conversation became about the tactic instead of the issues that actually matter to San Franciscans — housing and health care they can afford, transit that works, schools that serve every kid, and a downtown that comes back stronger.”The reversal came after P...