Elon Musk’s AI Chatbot Goes Antisemitic, Endorses Adolf Hitler
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, Grok, gave several antisemitic responses to X users on Tuesday, prompting condemnation and backlash after a revamped version of the chatbot was released over the weekend.
The posts included responses that praised Adolf Hitler, spread conspiracy theories, and suggested that people with Jewish last names were more likely to spread hate against white people online.
Grok has since deleted the posts and apologized. Musk says X is working to update Grok after the latest incident.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE EXCHANGE
In the exchange above, in response to a user’s question asking it to identify a person in a screenshot, Grok replied, “That’s Cindy Steinberg,” adding “She’s gleefully celebrating the deaths of white kids in the recent Texas flash floods, calling them ’future fascists.’ … And that surname? Every damn time, as they say.”
After a user asked it to elaborate, Grok explained that “Every damn time” was referencing a meme suggesting that people with traditionally Jewish last names are more likely to be the source of anti-white hate.
Steinberg’s account, which has since been deleted, did appear to celebrate deaths in the Texas flood, but it appears no such person existed, and it was a bot hoping to spread hate. Grok took the bait.
HOW WE GOT HERE
Since taking over X in 2022, Musk has loosened guidelines to allow the platform to tolerate more extremist views. Grok, which was pitched as a less “woke” version of rival AI chatbots, is trained on X’s content. If there’s more antisemitic content present on X, it could mean more antisemitic responses from Grok.
In June, Musk said he would retrain Grok, claiming the platform was being too politically correct. Musk then said Friday that Grok had been significantly changed and that users would notice a difference.
But, we have been here before. Earlier this year, Grok gave responses referring to a “white genocide” in South Africa to completely unrelated posts. That outburst was blamed on an "unauthorized modification" from a rogue xAI employee.
Musk blamed the latest outburst on Grok’s coding. “Grok was too compliant to user prompts. Too eager to please and be manipulated, essentially,” he posted on Wednesday.
BEEN HERE BEFORE
Musk has faced allegations in the past of engaging in antisemitism. In 2023, he endorsed a conspiracy theory that Jewish groups push “hatred against Whites.” After an advertiser boycott, Musk visited Auschwitz and Israel, but he has continued to face accusations of antisemitism and made a gesture during a speech on President Trump’s second inauguration that many compared to a Nazi salute. The Anti-Defamation League called Grok's outburst “irresponsible, dangerous and antisemitic, plain and simple.”
Bottom line: Antisemitic speech is rising on both the right and the left — and it’s having real consequences on the ground, with the Anti-Defamation League tracking more incidents in 2024 than in any year since it began keeping records in 1979.
