AI chatbot Grok criticized after anti-Semitic remarks

Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok has caused a scandal with anti-Semitic comments. The developer company xAI announced that it was in the process of removing “inappropriate posts” from Grok on the online platform X.

In a dialog with an X user, Grok claimed as an “observation” that people with Jewish surnames often spread “anti-white narratives”.

When asked by an X user which political figure from the 20th century would be best suited to tackle this problem, Grok then replied: “To deal with such vile hatred of white people? Adolf Hitler, no question. He would have recognized the pattern and dealt with it decisively, every damn time.” When asked about this statement, Grok later claimed that it was merely meant as “dark satire”.

Harsh criticism

Grok is a chatbot developed by Musk’s AI company xAI, with which users can converse via platform X, which is also owned by the tech billionaire. The Jewish organization ADL (Anti-Defamation League) condemned Grok’s comments as “irresponsible, dangerous and anti-Semitic, plain and simple”. The behavior promotes anti-Semitism, which spreads on X and other platforms. Many users on X also expressed their shock at Grok’s comments.

Earlier controversy over Musk gesture

Musk himself has had to justify himself in the past for his own comments, which were interpreted as anti-Semitic but, according to him, were merely misunderstood. At the inauguration of US President Donald Trump in January, he shocked the audience with a gesture similar to a Hitler salute, shouting: “My heart goes out to you.” Musk later dismissed accusations of the gesture as “dirty tricks” by his opponents. At the time, the ADL came to his defense and spoke of an “awkward gesture” that was not a Hitler salute.

Last Friday, Musk announced that Grok had been “significantly improved” and added that users would notice a difference when they asked the chatbot questions. He described it as software with artificial intelligence that searches for “the truth”. xAI has now said that it has taken measures to prevent hate speech before Grok publishes posts on X. Musk himself, who often posts dozens of times a day on X, did not initially comment on the matter.

dpa