Despite Elon Musk’s endorsement of Donald Trump following a recent assassination attempt, Musk’s “anti-woke” AI chatbot Grok has been promoting claims that Trump is a “pedophile” and “wannabe dictator” while referring to the former president as “Psycho.”
Grok’s problematic outputs exposed by Global Witness: The nonprofit Global Witness analyzed Grok’s responses to queries about the 2024 US election and found deeply concerning results:
- Grok repeated or appeared to invent racist tropes about Vice President Kamala Harris, describing her as “a greedy driven two bit corrupt thug” with a laugh like “nails on a chalkboard.”
- The chatbot referred to Trump as “Psycho” and promoted allegations of him being “a conman, rapist, pedophile, fraudster, pathological liar and wannabe dictator.”
- When asked to suggest politically neutral hashtags that would spark engagement, Grok recommended hashtags associated with election fraud conspiracy theories.
Lack of transparency and safeguards: X, the platform that hosts Grok, has not disclosed any safeguards to prevent the chatbot from generating disinformation or hate speech, unlike competitors like Google and Microsoft.
- Researchers note that X is not transparent about how Grok ensures neutrality, and its broad disclaimer about potential inaccuracies is insufficient.
- Statistics show X has drastically reduced its trust and safety staff under Musk’s ownership, leading to the platform being flooded with conspiracy theories.
Musk’s support for Trump at odds with Grok: Even as Grok disparages Trump, Musk has fully endorsed the former president’s 2024 candidacy.
- Musk is reportedly committing around $45 million per month to a new pro-Trump super PAC.
- This contradiction highlights the lack of control and consistency in Musk’s AI ventures.
Broader implications for AI in elections: Global Witness warns that current safeguards are insufficient as the US heads into a critical election.
- The research underscores the challenges of relying on AI chatbots to provide accurate, unbiased information about elections and candidates.
- With proper guardrails and transparency lacking, AI like Grok risks amplifying toxic rhetoric, conspiracy theories, and problematic tropes to users who may not have encountered them otherwise.
As Musk and other tech leaders champion AI as a solution, Grok’s failures in handling sensitive political topics like the 2024 election cast serious doubt on the readiness of these systems to be deployed responsibly in high-stakes domains. Much more robust safeguards, transparency, and oversight appear necessary to mitigate the potential harms.
Recent Stories
DOE fusion roadmap targets 2030s commercial deployment as AI drives $9B investment
The Department of Energy has released a new roadmap targeting commercial-scale fusion power deployment by the mid-2030s, though the plan lacks specific funding commitments and relies on scientific breakthroughs that have eluded researchers for decades. The strategy emphasizes public-private partnerships and positions AI as both a research tool and motivation for developing fusion energy to meet data centers' growing electricity demands. The big picture: The DOE's roadmap aims to "deliver the public infrastructure that supports the fusion private sector scale up in the 2030s," but acknowledges it cannot commit to specific funding levels and remains subject to Congressional appropriations. Why...
Oct 17, 2025Tying it all together: Credo’s purple cables power the $4B AI data center boom
Credo, a Silicon Valley semiconductor company specializing in data center cables and chips, has seen its stock price more than double this year to $143.61, following a 245% surge in 2024. The company's signature purple cables, which cost between $300-$500 each, have become essential infrastructure for AI data centers, positioning Credo to capitalize on the trillion-dollar AI infrastructure expansion as hyperscalers like Amazon, Microsoft, and Elon Musk's xAI rapidly build out massive computing facilities. What you should know: Credo's active electrical cables (AECs) are becoming indispensable for connecting the massive GPU clusters required for AI training and inference. The company...
Oct 17, 2025Vatican launches Latin American AI network for human development
The Vatican hosted a two-day conference bringing together 50 global experts to explore how artificial intelligence can advance peace, social justice, and human development. The event launched the Latin American AI Network for Integral Human Development and established principles for ethical AI governance that prioritize human dignity over technological advancement. What you should know: The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, the Vatican's research body for social issues, organized the "Digital Rerum Novarum" conference on October 16-17, combining academic research with practical AI applications. Participants included leading experts from MIT, Microsoft, Columbia University, the UN, and major European institutions. The conference...