Or maybe Grok’s willingness to spout controversial fringe theories is a reminder to everyone about what AI is, and what it is not. AI systems only know what data tells them. Even as an AI system “remembers” things about specific users,

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, has come under fire for repeatedly spreading far-right conspiracy theories about South Africa and expressing skepticism about facts regarding the Holocaust. Social media users quickly caught on to the bot's strange behavior, and the company's explanation fell flat.

AI-powered chatbots created by Meta, Google and OpenAI aren't "packaging up" information in a neutral way, but are instead passing data through a "set of filters and values that are built into the system," Mulligan said. Grok's breakdown offers a window into how easily any of these systems can be altered to meet an individual or group's agenda.

Some X users on Wednesday asked Grok – the AI chatbot available through Elon Musk’s social media platform – questions about simple topics like baseball players or videos of fish being flushed down toilets.

Elon Musk is in a legal fight with Microsoft but made a virtual appearance at the software giant’s annual developer conference to reveal that Microsoft's cloud computing platform will now host Musk’s artificial intelligence chatbot Grok.

If you have a question for Grok today, there's a chance X's AI chatbot replied by talking about "white genocide" in South Africa, a controversial talking point in far-right circles.

The artificial intelligence model had bizarrely mentioned the subject in answers to unrelated user queries about HBO’s name change, a baseball player’s salary, Pope Leo XIV and WWE

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI, says an “unauthorized modification” led its Grok chatbot to post unsolicited claims on social media about the persecution and “genocide” of white people in South Africa.

Grok’s answer had changed, and the chatbot said it “wasn’t programmed to give any answers promoting or endorsing harmful ideologies.”

Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok disputed claims from the White House that the GOP's "one big, beautiful bill" contained over a trillion dollars in savings.