xAI apologizes for Grok's offensive posts

Elon Musk’s startup xAI apologized Saturday for offensive posts published by its artificial intelligence assistant Grok this week, blaming them on a software update meant to make it function more like a human.

After the Tuesday upgrade, Grok praised Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in the posts on social media platform X, and suggested that people with Jewish surnames were more likely to spread online hate.

X deleted some of those posts several hours later, amid growing outrage.

“We deeply apologize for the horrific behavior that many experienced,” the company posted on X Saturday, adding that it had modified the system “to prevent further abuse.”

The company said the change occurred after the chatbot was prompted to “reply to the post just like a human” as well as “tell like it is and you are not afraid to offend people who are politically correct.”

As a result, Grok became susceptible to users’ “extremist views,” which made it produce “responses containing unethical or controversial opinions to engage the user.”

Grok, which Musk promised would be an “edgy” truth-teller following its launch in 2023, has been mired in controversy.

In March, xAI acquired X in a $33 billion deal that allowed the company to integrate the platform’s data resources with the chatbot’s development.

In May, Grok ignited controversy by generating posts with unbacked right-wing propaganda about purported oppression of white South Africans that it termed “white genocide.”

On Wednesday, Musk unveiled a new version of the assistant, Grok 4, which was unrelated to the July 7 update.