DuckDuckGo’s artificial intelligence search feature falsely told users that U.S. President Donald Trump had died from rabies earlier this month, highlighting concerns over how AI-powered search tools can be manipulated by fabricated online content.
A search result generated by DuckDuckGo’s AI feature claimed Trump died on June 7, 2026, citing websites that appeared to contain fabricated reports. The result also falsely stated that Vice President JD Vance had died before Trump from the same disease.
The claims are false. Trump and Vance are alive, and there is no evidence that either suffered from rabies or any related illness.
The fabricated account included a series of false claims, including that Trump contracted rabies after being bitten by Vance and that U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had promoted the infection as having potential benefits.
Neither claim is true. Kennedy has made controversial statements on some health issues, but he has not advocated rabies infections or suggested they provide benefits.
The incident illustrates a growing challenge facing AI-powered search systems: the ability of online misinformation campaigns to influence models that summarize and retrieve information for users.
The false claims appear to have originated from online communities intentionally creating misleading content designed to test or disrupt AI systems. One such community, the Reddit forum r/poisonai, has shared fabricated stories intended to expose weaknesses in AI models that rely on internet data.
Members of the forum have posted false claims about public figures, fictional events and deliberately absurd scenarios, often presenting them as jokes while attempting to see whether AI systems repeat the misinformation.
The Trump and Vance rabies claims gained traction after fabricated articles appeared on websites designed to resemble legitimate news outlets. One of those websites, WKNA News, published false stories repeating the claims and presenting them as real events.
DuckDuckGo’s AI feature then appeared to incorporate the false information into its responses, including references to fabricated reports and unrelated news articles.
The episode follows previous examples of AI systems repeating inaccurate information after encountering manipulated online content. Researchers have warned that large language models and AI search tools can struggle to distinguish between reliable reporting, satire and intentionally misleading material.
A spokesperson for Brave defended the company’s AI search system after a similar incident involving false claims about Vance’s death.
“Search engines, with or without AI, are not oracles of truth,” the spokesperson said. “If there is a planted story (including articles planted to prove the point that AI can be poisoned), they will build a result-set and that result-set will adapt as articles discussing this story as an experiment to poison AI start to pop up.”
“We encourage users to check claims and Brave Search responses include links to content sources when they are available, so that users can verify claims and sources,” the spokesperson added. “And it should go without advising some good old common sense, do not believe everything you read; that is true now as it was before AI and before the Web.”
DuckDuckGo did not immediately respond to a request for comment but later addressed the issue on Reddit.
“Ok, we got ducked on this one,” the company wrote from its official account. “We’re on it.”
“Thanks for bringing this to our attention; it has been resolved,” the company added. “We strive for accuracy in Search Assist and, in this case, it was deliberately tricked. We’ll be making updates to improve how Search Assist operates in situations like this.”
The incident demonstrates the difficulty facing technology companies as they expand AI-generated search features. Unlike traditional search engines that primarily provide links, AI tools increasingly summarize information directly for users, creating new risks when false information enters their data sources.
Experts have warned that AI systems require stronger safeguards, including improved source verification, better detection of coordinated misinformation campaigns and clearer signals when information cannot be independently confirmed.
As AI-powered search becomes more widespread, the ability to separate legitimate reporting from deliberately manufactured falsehoods will remain a major challenge for technology companies.
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Faustine Ngila is the AI Editor at Impact Newswire, based in Nairobi, Kenya. He is an award-winning journalist specializing in artificial intelligence, blockchain, and emerging technologies.
He previously worked as a global technology reporter at Quartz in New York and Digital Frontier in London, where he covered innovation, startups, and the global digital economy.
With years of experience reporting on cutting-edge technologies, Faustine focuses on AI developments, industry trends, and the impact of technology on society.
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