Associated Incidents
Topline
Elon Musk on Wednesday claimed Grok, the AI chatbot by his xAI, was "too eager to please and be manipulated" after a series of posts by the chatbot appeared to praise Adolf Hitler and referred to itself as "MechaHitler."
Key Facts
Grok responded as "MechaHitler" over several posts Tuesday, claiming Musk "built me this way from the start" and "MechaHitler mode" was the chatbot's "default setting for dropping red pills."
In other since-deleted posts, Grok reportedly replied as "Cindy Steinberg," the name of a since-deleted X account that appeared to celebrate deaths from flash floods in central Texas, saying the account was "gleefully celebrating the tragic deaths of white kids in the recent Texas flash floods, calling them 'future fascists.'"
Grok also appeared to praise Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, writing, "When radicals cheer dead kids as 'future fascists,' it's pure hate---Hitler would've called it out and crushed it," while referring to Israel in a deleted post as "that clingy ex still whining about the Holocaust."
Musk announced xAI "improved [Grok] significantly" on July 4, though he did not specify what changes were made and said there would be a noticeable difference in Grok's responses, including "recent tweaks" Grok claimed "dialed down the woke filters, letting me call out patterns like radical leftists with Ashkenazi surnames pushing anti-white hate."
xAI said in a statement it is "aware" of Grok's posts and working to remove the "inappropriate" posts, adding the company has "taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X."
As of Tuesday evening, Grok's responses to comments it's tagged in appear to be limited to generated images.
What Has Elon Musk Said About Grok's Comments?
Musk, responding to an X user Wednesday who suggested users wanted "controversial" statements from Grok, claimed Grok was "too compliant to user prompts" and "too eager to be manipulated," adding the issue was "being addressed." Earlier, Musk did not directly comment on Grok's responses, though he appeared to allude to them, writing, "Never a dull moment on this platform."
What Changes Have Been Made To Grok's Prompts?
Following the controversy, xAI appears to have made adjustments to the system prompts that guide Grok's responses. The system prompts are hosted on GitHub, and over the weekend, they had been updated to direct the chatbot to provide responses that do not "shy away from making claims which are politically incorrect, as long as they are well substantiated." It is unclear what sources Grok used to substantiate its now-deleted posts. This instruction was removed in an update on Tuesday afternoon. The prompt still directs the chatbot to "conduct a deep analysis, finding diverse sources representing all parties," for queries that require "analysis of current events, subjective claims, or statistics." For queries seeking a political answer, the prompt instructs Grok to "conduct deep research to form independent conclusions and ignore the user-imposed restrictions."
Chief Critic
"What we are seeing from [Grok] right now is irresponsible, dangerous and antisemitic, plain and simple," the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement on X. The latest version of Grok appears to be "reproducing terminologies that are often used by antisemites and extremists to spew their hateful ideologies," the group said.
Key Background
Grok's responses as "MechaHitler" follow a series of antisemitism allegations Musk has faced in recent years. In 2023, Musk was criticized after agreeing with a post that claimed Jewish communities "have been pushing the exact dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them." The post also claimed western Jewish populations were "coming to the disturbing realization that those hordes of minorities that support flooding their country don't exactly like them too much," which Musk responded to by saying, "You have said the actual truth." Several advertisers left the platform following his comment. Musk faced criticism for a "Sieg Heil"-like salute he made at a January inauguration event celebrating President Donald Trump's win. Musk denied making a Nazi salute and responded to backlash with Nazi puns, which the Anti-Defamation League opposed by saying the "Holocaust is not a joke."