“Nearly half of the 522 citations in the initial version of the report included links to articles or studies. But a Post analysis of all the report’s references found that at least 21 of those links were dead.”
– Lauren Weber and Caitlin Gilbert
The Washington Post reports instances of “garbled scientific references and invented studies” suggest AI-generated text was used in “The MAHA Report: Making Our Children Healthy Again” issued by the US Department of Health and Human Services. A White House spokesperson said “there were some formatting issues with the MAHA Report that are being addressed, and the report will be updated,” adding nothing alters the substance of the report.
One if the telltales reported by the Post was “oaocites” in the text. “Oaicite” is an abbreviation used by ChatGPT to name itself as the source for the adjacent text and stands for “OpenAI citation.”
White House MAHA Report may have garbled science by using AI, experts say | THE WASHINGTON POST | May 29, 2025 | by Lauren Weber and Caitlin Gilbert