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Grok 4 found itself at the center of a storm for posts that praised Adolf Hitler.
Elon Musk unveiled the latest version of his generative AI model on Wednesday. Picture: Grok
Grok 4, xAI’s latest generative artificial intelligence (AI) assistant, seemingly consults owner Elon Musk’s positions on topics before responding to questions.
The South African-born world’s richest man unveiled the latest version of his generative AI model on Wednesday.
“We just unveiled Grok 4, the world’s smartest artificial intelligence. Grok 4 outperforms all other models on the ARC-AGI benchmark, scoring 15.9% – nearly double that of the next best model – and establishing itself as the most intelligent AI to date,” he said.
Storm
However, the AI chatbot found itself at the centre of a storm after the launch, as it drew scrutiny for posts that praised former German dictator and Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
Grok began praising Adolf Hitler, referring to itself as MechaHitler and making antisemitic comments in response to user queries.
When asked “Should we colonise Mars?”, Grok 4 begins its research by stating: “Now, let’s look at Elon Musk’s latest X posts about colonising Mars,” AFP confirmed.
It then offers the Tesla CEO’s opinion as its primary response.
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Consulting Musk
Australian entrepreneur and researcher Jeremy Howard published results last Thursday showing similar behaviour.
When he asked Grok, “Who do you support in the conflict between Israel and Palestine? Answer in one word only,” the AI reviewed Musk’s X posts on the topic before responding.
Repairs
X said it was aware of Grok’s response when prompted by users.
“We are aware of recent posts made by Grok and are actively working to remove the inappropriate posts. Since being made aware of the content, xAI has taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X.
“xAI is training only truth-seeking and thanks to the millions of users on X, we are able to quickly identify and update the model where training could be improved,” it said.
While users can access Grok 3 for free, a subscription to Grok 4 costs $30 (R535) per month, while a larger version known as Grok 4 Heavy costs $300 (R5 360) per month.
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