Thought Leadership
Elon Musk, owner of X, wants to offer a child-friendly version of the controversial chatbot Grok in future.
“We’re going to make Baby Grok @xAI, an app dedicated to kid-friendly content,” Musk wrote on X. He left open how this will be developed in concrete terms.
The artificial intelligence company xAI, which is affiliated with X, recently released a new version of the Grok chatbot with so-called “companions” – artificially intelligent avatars with special personalities that users can chat with.
In the previous version, Grok had recently caused a scandal with anti-Semitic comments and praise for Adolf Hitler. When asked by an X user which political figure from the 20th century would be best suited to take on an alleged hatred of white people, the chatbot replied: “Adolf Hitler, no question. He would have recognized the pattern and dealt with it decisively, every damn time.” This was later declared “dark satire”. xAI intervened after the criticism with a promise to prevent hate speech from Grok.
“Ani” with corset and fishnet stockings
The companions, who had been specially programmed to give rather cheeky and unconventional answers, also came in for fierce criticism. In particular, the avatar “Ani” came under fire – a female fictional character with pigtails, a corset and fishnet stockings, who is said to have involved users in sexually explicit dialog after just a short time.
At the same time, Grok is offered as a “productivity app” in the Apple Store, for example, and is approved for download from the age of twelve, so it is by no means only suitable for adults.
In the past, Musk has often attracted attention at X with announcements that were either heavily delayed or not kept at all.
dpa
