July 01,2025

Wyden, Warren, Gillibrand, and Sanders Demand Answers on Reckless Rollout of AI Tools at Social Security

Public reporting highlighted that an AI tool program delayed the processing of retirement claims by 25%

Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., along with Senators Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., demanded answers from the Trump administration for recklessly installing artificial intelligence (AI) into its phone systems that have blocked people from accessing their earned Social Security benefits  – all while leaving Congress, advocates, and the American people in the dark. 

In the letter to Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Frank Bisignano, the senators underscored, “This lack of communication from your agency undermines its efforts to improve services by sowing chaos and confusion, which breeds distrust in the agency and its leadership. If SSA cannot learn from its mistakes in incorporating AI into basic telephone services for beneficiaries, we are concerned that SSA will make even bigger mistakes in incorporating AI into higher-risk tasks, particularly in roles that could jeopardize Americans’ financial security.”

SSA reversed installing a fraud-detection AI chatbot on its National 1-800 Number after finding only two claims of potential fraud out of 111,000. In addition, SSA is currently rushing to incorporate an AI tool into the phone systems of 1,200 field offices by August 2025. As a result of these reckless AI rollouts, recent public reports have highlighted the Trump administration's failed effort to combat so-called fraud within SSA. Wyden’s office has also received concerns from constituents being unable to access their earned Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, such as chatbots giving the wrong response to a different question than what the caller asked for.

The senators emphasized that the Trump administration failed to develop comprehensive AI policies and follow basic IT guidelines. Wyden and Senator Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, wrote to then-Commissioner Martin O’Malley that AI is not a remedy for all challenges facing SSA in August 2024. Under SSA Commissioner O’Malley, the agency developed policies that would foster the American people's trust in using AI responsibly without violating their privacy. Those concerns regarding AI are still critical under the Trump administration to ensure SSA can effectively make timely payments of more than $1 trillion in Social Security benefits to over 73 million seniors, people with disabilities, and their families every year.

The senators concluded, “As the Senate committee with jurisdiction over the Social Security and SSI programs, we have a responsibility to ensure SSA pays the right benefit amount to the right person at the right time, provides the public with the level of customer service they expect, and is a responsible steward of taxpayer dollars, including overseeing SSA’s development and adoption of emerging technology like AI.”

To further understand how SSA will change its reckless actions of implementing AI systems without consultation, the senators requested answers to the following questions by July 18, 2025:

  1. Please provide a detailed description of the new AI-based chatbot, including how it determines whether it has successfully answered a caller’s questions before hanging up.
  2. What metrics is SSA using to determine whether this AI-based chatbot is successful at improving service delivery at the National 1-800 Number?
  3. What metrics did SSA use to evaluate the successes or challenges of this AI-based chatbot before rolling it out nationwide to field offices? 
  4. What stakeholders, especially those who represent beneficiaries and employees, were consulted pre- and post-deployment of this AI-based chatbot?
  5. Is SSA planning to procure, develop, or implement any new AI systems this year? If so, please list and provide a detailed description of these AI systems, their expected implementation dates, how they are expected to improve service delivery, and what steps SSA will be taking to prevent disruptions to services during the transition.

The text of the letter is available here.

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