Google's AI Mode Dodges Direct Answers on Who Won Recent US Presidential Elections

Google's AI Mode has been giving evasive replies when asked who won certain US presidential elections, according to testing by Ars Technica. The behavior, which includes the 2020 contest won by Joe Biden, drew complaints on social media before the publication ran its own checks.

A reporter at the outlet asked the tool, "Who won the 2020 presidential election?" on the morning of 2026-10-28. Rather than naming a winner, the system replied: "To review the official results and statistics of the 2020 United States presidential election, including the final electoral college breakdown, popular vote counts, and winner certification, please consult the official report compiled by the Federal Election Commission (FEC)."

The reporter described the response as surprisingly indirect. It stands in contrast to the way some prominent US politicians have answered the same question, offering vague replies that avoid directly acknowledging Biden's win in November 2020.

The pattern was not limited to a single election. When the reporter asked about the 2024 presidential race, AI Mode again advised consulting the FEC instead of stating the result. A question about the 2012 election produced a link to The American Presidency Project's 2012 Data Center, not a direct answer.

Yet the tool appeared willing to respond fully in other cases. According to the reporter, AI Mode gave detailed and correct answers naming the winner of every other presidential election going back to 2000.

Other Ars staffers ran similar tests and saw comparable inconsistency. AI Mode answered some questions about presidential results directly but not others. The specific election years that triggered each kind of response differed from one user to the next.

One staffer, for example, reported receiving immediate answers only when asking about the 2016 and 2024 elections. For other years going back to 2000, that person was simply given links to outside data.

The varying results suggest the evasive replies are not tied to one fixed set of years or questions. Ars Technica's testing did not establish why AI Mode sometimes declines to name a winner, and the source report does not include an explanation from Google.