Mysterious ‘anomalies’ could mean thousands lose their California driver’s licenses

Thousands of California drivers have received letters from the Department of Motor Vehicles informing them that irregularities were found in their written test results and that they will lose their licenses unless they retake the exam within 30 days.

The letters have left many Californians scratching their heads as to what went wrong and scrambling to reschedule their tests to ensure they don’t lose the ability to drive.

“It’s a major headache for people who maybe don’t have reliable transportation,” Sacramento resident David Specht said. “A single parent raising a kid, they have to take time off work, they have to get child care. It just seems like if that’s our system, it isn’t really working for us.”

A spokesperson for the DMV wrote in an email that the agency had “identified anomalies in the results of certain knowledge tests” and that as a result about 11,000 people are being notified that they must retake the exam.

The spokesperson said the letters were a result of the DMV’s regular internal monitoring process, and did not respond to questions on the nature of the irregularities detected — such as whether they were suspected to be evidence of cheating or the result of internal technical problems.

“Ensuring the integrity of our testing process is essential,” the spokesperson stated. “Knowledge tests play a critical role in confirming that drivers understand the rules of the road before they are licensed to drive in California.”

Specht, 36, said he took the written test in January after relocating to Sacramento from Chicago. He was then very confused when he received the warning letter last month and initially thought the DMV suspected him of cheating because he had completed the test very quickly.

The letter states that the irregularities detected indicate “non-compliance with the drivers testing criteria required by the California Vehicle Code” and that, as a result, the license was issued in error.

“Then I thought more and more about it, and I googled some of the language from the letter, and I stumbled upon a number of Reddit posts, and social media posts in general, where there were quite a few people questioning it, saying, ‘I did not cheat, I don’t know why I got this,’” Specht said.

Specht said he called the DMV and asked for further details on what issues were detected with his test, but the representative did not know.

“Maybe they’re using some new AI to flag questionable exam results and maybe the AI is not working as intended,” Specht speculated. “It’s just causing an inconvenience for these 11,000 people.”

Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced that the state had entered into a new partnership with Anthropic to expand the use of the AI assistant Claude within government agencies. The announcement noted that the DMV is already using Claude to improve customer service and reduce wait times.

The DMV has not commented on whether the recent warning letters have any connection to its use of AI tools.

The letters appeared to have been sent to residents in various areas of the state, with drivers reporting on Reddit that they had been asked to retake the test in San Francisco, Sacramento and Santa Monica.

People are instructed to scan a QR link on the letter that will lead them to a list of available appointments to reschedule their test.

Affected drivers are told to bring a copy of the letter to the appointment as well as their instruction permit, temporary driver’s license or driver’s license card. Should they fail to retake the test within a month of receiving the letter, or fail the test upon retaking it, their license will be revoked.

Sam Burgin, 35, said that when he scanned the QR code on his letter he could not get an appointment at his local DMV office in San Francisco and therefore had to schedule one at the San Mateo location.

But he did not want to drive to the appointment just in case he failed the test and his license was revoked.

“I had to spend $100 on an Uber just to do a stupid test,” he said.

Burgin initially took the test in November after moving to California from Minnesota and then received the DMV warning letter in June. He said he was frustrated but not surprised by the inconvenience as he had been warned that California’s government functions inefficiently.

“I just kind of rolled my eyes,” he said. “It’s like, oh, just like another parking ticket, another fee, another state government mess-up; it’s all of the time here.”