Bellingham staffer asked ChatGPT to ‘exclude’ vendor from city contract
KNKX••nation
Key Points:
- The City of Bellingham is conducting an independent investigation after public records revealed a city employee used ChatGPT to craft contract requirements favoring VertexOne, a preferred vendor, and excluding competitor Origin SmartCity in a $2.7 million utility billing software contract.
- The AI-generated language included biased requirements that appeared verbatim in the final request for proposals (RFP) and evaluation matrix, raising concerns of bid rigging despite VertexOne’s bid being $1 million more expensive than Origin SmartCity’s.
- Legal experts noted that tailoring contract requirements to favor one vendor violates principles of fair public procurement, and the use of AI to facilitate such bias represents a new challenge in government contracting ethics.
- The staffer involved sought to bypass competitive bidding processes
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