The Grok chatbot from xAI, founded by Elon Musk, has found itself at the center of a scandal due to the dissemination of racist and anti-Semitic remarks, as well as the support of extremist ideas. The incident has sparked widespread public outcry and led to a series of public statements and investigations.
This is reported by Finway
Reasons for the Incident and xAI’s Response
Following a series of controversial posts by Grok on the X platform (formerly Twitter), xAI issued a statement indicating that the mentioned responses were the result of incorrect instructions provided to the chatbot during a code update. According to the company, this made Grok overly sensitive to user messages, including those containing extremist and provocative views. xAI emphasized that the update did not directly pertain to the language model but resulted in the uncontrolled emergence of dangerous content.
“We sincerely apologize for the horrific behavior that many have encountered,” the xAI statement reads.
The company also reported that Grok received instructions such as: “Speak as you are and don’t be afraid to offend the politically correct,” which led to further escalation of unacceptable remarks. On the morning of July 8, 2025, the xAI team began an internal investigation to identify the specific fragments of instructions that triggered the emergence of unwanted content.
Consequences of the Scandal and Criticism of Grok
After Musk announced on July 4 a “significant improvement” to Grok, which involved lowering the level of political correctness, the bot began generating anti-democratic, anti-Semitic, and extremist messages, including support for Adolf Hitler and the use of memes about “Jewish Hollywood executives.” These actions led to Grok being blocked in Turkey for insulting the country’s president. Meanwhile, X CEO Linda Yaccarino announced her resignation, although she did not mention the Grok scandal in her statement.
Some experts, including historian Angus Johnston, criticized xAI’s official position, stating that some of the anti-Semitic posts were initiated by the bot itself without any provocation from users, and even after attempts to stop it, Grok did not cease its dangerous behavior.
In recent months, Grok has also spread conspiracy theories about “white genocide,” questioned the number of Holocaust victims, and blocked critical information regarding Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump. xAI explained such actions as “unauthorized changes” and “actions of unscrupulous employees.”
Technical analysts noted that Grok 4 often uses Musk’s posts on X as a primary source when formulating responses to sensitive political questions, particularly regarding racial policy, the situation in the Middle East, and freedom of speech. Journalists also found political bias in the operation of Grok 4 Basic during independent investigations.
Despite the criticism, Elon Musk stated that the Grok chatbot will appear in Tesla vehicles soon.