Skip to content
Bramble

Technology

America.gov chatbot answers Minecraft questions with a rewritten game poem

The new US government chatbot at America.gov returns a long, strange monologue when asked about Minecraft. TechCrunch says it is an easter egg, not a glitch, and Jimmy Fallon joked about the chatbot.

2 outlets · 1L · 1C · 0R First reported Account updated

Updated (version 2). Rewritten with the latest reporting.

Image: TechCrunch

The story, neutrally told

The US government launched an AI chatbot at America.gov on Tuesday, according to TechCrunch. TechCrunch reports it was built in partnership with Google and SpaceXAI, and that people have found it hard to jailbreak so far. When asked about Minecraft, the chatbot produces a monologue of roughly 1,800 words that can look like a malfunction.

TechCrunch says this is not a breakdown but a rewriting of the Minecraft "End Poem" by Julian Gough, which appears after a player beats the game, with bureaucratic jokes added. It is not known who added the reference, but TechCrunch notes that Trump said in a speech that Edward Coristine, a twenty-year-old programmer once involved in Elon Musk's DOGE, was a lead engineer on the project. The same article says the chatbot states that Joe Biden won the 2020 election, which Trump still denies.

The New York Times covered the launch through a late-night angle, quoting Jimmy Fallon joking that people fear AI and distrust the federal government, so Trump decided to combine them.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on.

Left1 outlet

Framing
The New York Times treats the chatbot as material for late-night comedy, led by Jimmy Fallon's joke about combining AI with a distrusted government.
Emphasis
Humour and public distrust of AI and the federal government.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not, in its headline and lede, cover the Minecraft response, the easter-egg explanation or the chatbot's partners.
For example
“Jimmy Fallon Pokes Fun at America’s New A.I. Chatbot” — The New York Times

Centre1 outlet

Framing
TechCrunch explains the odd Minecraft output as a deliberate easter egg rather than a malfunction, in a wry, first-person tone.
Emphasis
The rewritten End Poem, its quality, and who might have added it.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not include reaction from the government or the developers about the easter egg.
Charged language
“kinda slaps”“AI slop”
For example
“It feels wrong that a government chatbot has Minecraft easter eggs” — TechCrunch

Right0 outlets

No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.