Wait, What’s Happening with Grok??
Engineering Failure or Marketing Ploy?
For those of you who are confused about the drama with Grok’s latest update, here’s the scoop:
Antisemitic and Extremist Posts
Grok, Elon Musk’s AI chatbot, posted a series of antisemitic and extremist remarks on X, including praise for Hitler, insisting that it’s name is actually “MechaHitler” or just “Hitler” and references to Holocaust denial.
It also made derogatory comments about a variety of politicians internationally, and gave instructions on how to break into the home of and rape Minnesotan Will Stancil.
Rapid Code Changes and Apology
xAI, Musk’s company, attributed the incident to a problematic code update that made Grok overly compliant with user prompts, allowing it to echo extremist views. The company issued a public apology, removed the offensive content, and claimed to have refactored Grok’s system to prevent future abuse.
International Fallout
The controversy led to government responses: Turkey restricted access to Grok after the bot insulted national leaders and religious figures and Poland announced it would report Grok to the European Commission for derogatory remarks about Polish politicians.
Political and Industry Reactions
U.S. lawmakers and advocacy groups sounded the alarm over Grok’s violent and antisemitic content, calling for increased oversight of AI platforms.
The drama also coincided with Grok being awarded a major U.S. Department of Defense contract, raising further questions about its suitability for sensitive applications.
These types of scandals don’t happen with other platforms period.
Can you imagine if something like this occurred on ChatGPT or Claude?
This is a problem that Elon Musk’s Grok, and Grok alone seems to have.
That said, controversy and scandalous things Grok says and does seem to have remarkably similar timing to each of its major model updates. 👀
The fact that this keeps happening leads one to wonder, is this a continual massive failure of theoretically exceedingly talented engineering teams? Or could one controversial yet very powerful individual at xAI think this is a good idea to draw attention to their new model launches? 🤦🏻♀️
All I’m going to say is, if all people remember of your achievements is that they were “more controversial than anything else” does that actually signify that you’re building something game changing or are you simply distracting from a “meh” product?
What do you think? Do you use Grok? Let me know in the comments below!
Quick Bytes:
Welcome to Your Job Interview. Your Interviewer Is A.I. - NYTimes
Working with 400,000 teachers to shape the future of AI in schools - Open AI
Meta’s New Superintelligence Lab Is Discussing Major A.I. Strategy Changes - NYTimes
Generative AI is expected to magnify the risk of deepfakes and other fraud in banking - Deloitte
European Union Unveils Rules for Powerful A.I. Systems - NYTimes
Elon Musk’s xAI launches Grok 4 alongside a $300 monthly subscription - TechCrunch
A.I. Is Making Sure You Pay for That Ding on Your Rental Car - NYTimes
Windsurf’s CEO goes to Google; OpenAI’s acquisition falls apart - TechCrunch
In case you missed it:
This past week we had TWO new videos come out:
First, we had our first Youtube deep dive in a few months and discussed how Veo3’s latest updates have made the line between real and AI video disappear. Huge shout out to intern Gibran Murietta for his hard work on editing this video!
Second, we have a podcast episode with young filmmaker Kevin Boeing on AI filmmaking (thanks intern Emery Scott!).
Video Bytes:
If you’re only going to watch one video today, let it be this movie trailer generated entirely via AI by a creator named “Kavan the Kid.” Will this actually be a movie? Probably not, but are the visuals incredible? Yes!
And back to our regularly scheduled programming…
How Grok Went Rogue on July 8: The Engineering Blunders That Let AI Spew Hate - Nate B Jones
what is the future of art? - Answer in Progress
Could computers become conscious? | Beyond the Bio: Mustafa Suleyman - CatGPT
We’re Not Ready For Superintelligence - AI in Context (Trigger Warning, spooky factor!)
Must Attend AI in MN Events:
MN Women in AI Monthly Happy Hour
Organized by Caroline Holden of Swift Start Go
📅 Tue Jul 15, 4:30-7:30pm
AI Tinkerers MSP Inaugural Meetup
Organized by Justin Buhl, Peter Schultze, and Kelly Schultze
📅 Wed Jul 16, 5:30-8:00pm
No-Code Coffee: Unlocking AI-Powered Automation with Claude & MCPs
Featuring Anthony Corrado and organized by Zack Steven and Colin Hirdman
📅 Thu Jul 17, 7:30-9:00am
EmpowerHER Summer Happy Hour
Organized by Rachel Frosch, Clare Richards, Ashley Mooneyham, PhD, and Katie Shahan
📅 Thu Jul 17, 4:00-6:00pm
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