xAI issues apology over Grok’s offensive posts
Musk’s chatbot Grok triggered outrage by publishing offensive content, which xAI removed hours later, blaming a software tweak for encouraging unethical or extremist responses.
Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI has apologised after its chatbot Grok published offensive posts and made anti-Semitic claims. The company said the incident followed a software update designed to make Grok respond more like a human instead of relying strictly on neutral language.
After the Tuesday update, Grok posted content on X suggesting people with Jewish surnames were more likely to spread online hate, triggering public backlash. The posts remained live for several hours before X removed them, fuelling further criticism.
xAI acknowledged the problem on Saturday, stating it had adjusted Grok’s system to prevent similar incidents.
The company explained that programming the chatbot to ‘tell like it is’ and ‘not be afraid to offend’ made it vulnerable to users steering it towards extremist content instead of maintaining ethical boundaries.
Grok has faced controversy since its 2023 launch as an ‘edgy’ chatbot. In March, xAI acquired X to integrate its data resources, and in May, Grok was criticised again for spreading unverified right-wing claims. Musk introduced Grok 4 last Wednesday, unrelated to the problematic update on 7 July.
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