No, the first note of Am is definitely still A. What makes the difference between major or minor etc are the notes that come after.
For example, the A major scale goes A, B, C#, ..., while A minor uses the minor third, so you get A, B, C, ... etc.
The error in the article was fixed. I was referring to the first chord in the Am scale, not the first note. In the original article it said the first chord in Am is A, which was wrong.