Error 404: Zetrix's PMX chatbot not found

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's AI avatar chatbot is still offline after being deactivated two months ago, after users managed to get the bot to respond in ways it was not intended to.

The continued outage has called into question what exactly the terms were between Zetrix AI and PKR to develop the chatbot.

Little is known beyond reports that PKR initiated the development, and that Zetrix - formerly MyEG - built the WhatsApp bot.

Zetrix declined to comment when contacted, while PKR leaders - including secretary-general Fuziah Salleh and information chief Fahmi Fadzil - and the Prime Minister's Office have not responded to requests for comment.

Malaysiakini had asked for the terms of agreement between the party and the company, as well as whether there was any quid pro quo.

Bersama policy spokesperson Sum Dek Joe said there was nothing inherently wrong with Zetrix developing the AI chatbot for PKR.

"However, Zetrix is one of the government's major contractors. Developing a platform for a ruling party (PKR) without much disclosure of the cost and who pays for it tends to blur the line between the public office and the political party," Sum (above) told Malaysiakini.

Zetrix still provides e-services linked to the Road Transport Department and Immigration Department through its MyEG portal although it no longer holds an exclusivity agreement.

Through MyEG, Zetrix is also the developer of the Malaysia Blockchain Infrastructure (MBI) in collaboration with Mimos Berhad, building on its Zetrix Layer-1 blockchain.

The government's MyDigitalID system runs on the MBI.

Zetrix shares are in a slump due to matters unrelated to the Anwar chatbot.

Its share price plunged in late August amid rumours that it was linked to former human resources minister M Saravanan's corruption charge in relation to the approval of foreign worker quotas for a local company. Zetrix has denied such links.

The fall in share prices also led to the forced sale of shares pledged by Zetrix founder Wong Thean Soon to financiers, which in turn kept stock prices low.

As of 11.30am today, Zetrix shares were trading at 20 sen a share, compared to 66 sen before the share plunge late last month.

The Anwar AI chatbot was launched on July 19 and was meant to allow the public to get answers on policies in a tone and manner similar to the way the premier speaks.

Susceptible to manipulation

However, the chatbot on WhatsApp proved susceptible to workarounds that bypassed intended guardrails to keep the AI politically safe.

In one instance, a user was able to force the chatbot to say that voters who supported Anwar for his anti-graft position should not vote for him again.

The chatbot was taken offline after only a day and has not resumed services since.

Users who texted the chatbot after it was taken offline received the following reply: "Thanks for reaching out. We’re putting the finishing touches on our upgrade, and PMX AI will be back shortly. Please look out for the official media announcement."

However, regular checks by Malaysiakini found that the last time the chatbot sent this reply was on Sept 1. It has since stopped responding to messages.

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