United StatesPublic sector2023–2026New York City
MyCity business chatbot
New York City's business chatbot gave answers that broke city law and was shut down two years later
Problem
Small business owners in New York City must follow a large body of city rules on housing, labour and consumer protection, spread over many web pages. The city wanted one place where they could ask questions in plain language.
Approach
The Adams administration launched the MyCity chatbot in autumn 2023, built on Microsoft's Azure AI services and meant to draw on more than 2,000 NYC Business web pages. In March 2024 tests by The Markup and THE CITY found it telling users that landlords could refuse housing vouchers, employers could take workers' tips and shops could refuse cash, all contrary to city law. The city kept it online as a beta with disclaimers. In January 2026 Mayor Zohran Mamdani called it "functionally unusable" and named it as a budget saving, and by early February the city announced that the beta had ended.
Results
Takeaway
Journalists found errors by testing the bot; the city had missed them and responded with disclaimers while keeping it online. The bot's government authority gave wrong legal answers more weight than a retailer's.
Categories
- Size
- Large enterprise
- Industry
- Public sector
- Business function
- Customer service
- Innovation type
- Product and service innovation
- AI technology
- Generative AIConversational and voice AI
- Adoption
- Vendor solution
- Evidence
- Press reporting
Sources
Source summaries
The Markup reports its own tests of the MyCity chatbot, which gave wrong answers on housing vouchers, tenant lockouts, cashless shops, workers' tips and funeral prices, sometimes inconsistently between users. It notes that the bot ran on Microsoft's Azure AI services and was meant to draw on more than 2,000 city business pages. It quotes the city calling it a pilot that would improve and legal advocates saying it should be taken down if inaccurate.
The Markup and THE CITY report that Mayor Mamdani named the chatbot as a saving while addressing a $12 billion budget gap, calling it "functionally unusable" and saying it cost around half a million dollars. They cite ABC7 reporting that building its foundations cost nearly $600,000. They later reported that by 4 February 2026 the city had taken the bot down, saying its beta test had ended.
Futurism reports that the chatbot, launched in late 2023 on Microsoft's Azure AI and reported to have cost upward of $600,000 to build, was offline, with its page directing visitors to NYC.gov. It recalls the advice on tips and cashless stores that The Markup had found to be wrong. It notes the mayor's remark that the saving alone would not close the city's budget gap.
Full details are in the original sources.
