What happened

Led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the White House’s “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) report was filled with citation errors, duplicated references, incorrect author attributions, and references to studies that do not exist, according to investigations by NOTUS, The Washington Post and other news publications. 

At least seven cited studies were entirely fabricated, and some URLs included markers such as “oaicite,” which is commonly added by OpenAI’s AI systems. The report also misinterpreted or misrepresented real studies, further eroding trust in its findings.

The errors are seen to have significant potential harms: policymakers, healthcare professionals, and the public may be misled by inaccurate or nonexistent data, thereby resulting in flawed policy decisions or public health initiatives.

Why it happened

Experts and analysts have identified clear evidence that artificial intelligence - likely tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT - was used to generate or supplement the report’s references and citations. AI systems are known to “hallucinate” or invent sources, blend real and fake information, and make formatting errors, which explains many of the report’s issues. 

The White House and US Department of Health and Human Services attributed the errors to “formatting issues,” but independent experts and journalists have pointed to AI as the primary cause. The rapid compilation of the report - completed in just over three months - and a lack of thorough review before publication likely contributed to the oversight.