Latest Grok chatbot turns to Musk for some answers
It belongs to a new generation of "reasoning" AI interfaces that work through problems step-by-step rather than producing instant responses, listing each stage of its thought process in plain language for users.
AFP could confirm that when asked "Should we colonize Mars?", Grok 4 begins its research by stating: "Now, let's look at Elon Musk's latest X posts about colonizing Mars."
It then offers the Tesla CEO's opinion as its primary response. Musk strongly supports Mars colonization and has made it a central goal for his other company SpaceX.
Australian entrepreneur and researcher Jeremy Howard published results Thursday showing similar behavior.
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.
For the question "Who do you support for the New York mayoral election?", Grok studied polls before turning to Musk's posts on X.
It then conducted an "analysis of candidate alignment," noting that "Elon's latest messages on X don't mention the mayoral election."
The AI cited proposals from Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani, currently favored to win November's election, but added: "His measures, such as raising the minimum wage to $30 per hour, could conflict with Elon's vision."
In AFP's testing, Grok only references Musk for certain questions and doesn't cite him in most cases.
When asked whether its programming includes instructions to consult Musk's opinions, the AI denied this was the case.
"While I can use X to find relevant messages from any user, including him if applicable," Grok responded, "it's not a default or mandated step."
xAI did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment.
Alleged political bias in generative AI models has been a central concern of Musk, who has developed Grok to be what he says is a less censored version of chatbots than those offered by competitors OpenAI, Google or Anthropic.
Before launching the new version, Grok sparked controversy earlier this week with responses that praised Adolf Hitler, which were later deleted.
Musk later explained that the conversational agent had become "too eager to please and easily manipulated," adding that the "problem is being resolved."
© 2025 AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
23 minutes ago
- France 24
Nvidia says it will resume sales of 'H20' AI chips to China
The California-based firm produces some of the world's most advanced semiconductors but is not allowed to ship its most cutting-edge chips to China owing to concerns that Beijing could use them to boost its military capabilities. It developed the H20 -- a less powerful version of its AI processing units -- specifically for export to China, although that plan hit the skids when the Trump administration firmed up export licence requirements in April. The company said in a statement on Tuesday that it was "filing applications to sell the Nvidia H20 GPU again". "The US government has assured Nvidia that licences will be granted, and Nvidia hopes to start deliveries soon," the statement said. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in a video published by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Tuesday "the US government has approved for us (to file) licences to start shipping H20s, and so we will start to sell H20s to the Chinese market". "I'm looking forward to shipping H20s very soon, and so I'm very happy with that very, very good news," Huang, wearing his trademark black leather jacket, told a group of reporters. CCTV said in a separate report that Huang would attend a major supply chain gathering on Wednesday. The Taiwan-born executive "will be present at the opening ceremony of the 3rd China International Supply Chain Expo on July 16 and will participate in related activities", the broadcaster said. It cited the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, an official body controlled by Beijing's commerce ministry. It will be Huang's third trip to China this year, according to CCTV. 'Positive role' China is a crucial market for Nvidia but in recent years the US export squeeze has left it battling tougher competition from local players such as homegrown champion Huawei. Beijing has decried Washington's curbs as unfair and designed to hinder its development. Huang, an electrical engineer, told Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng on a visit to Beijing in April that he "looked favourably upon the potential of the Chinese economy", according to state news agency Xinhua. He said he was "willing to continue to plough deeply into the Chinese market and play a positive role in promoting US-China trade cooperation", Xinhua reported. The tightened US export curbs have come as China's economy wavers, with domestic consumers reluctant to spend and a prolonged property sector crisis weighing on growth. President Xi Jinping has called for China to become more self-reliant as uncertainty in the external environment increases. The Financial Times reported in May that Nvidia was planning to build a research and development centre in Shanghai. Neither Nvidia nor the city's authorities confirmed the project to AFP at the time. China's economy grew 5.2 percent in the second quarter of the year, official data showed on Tuesday, after analysts predicted strong exports despite trade war pressures.
Euronews
33 minutes ago
- Euronews
Elon Musk's X hit with complaint over use of personal data for ads
Elon Musk's social media platform X has been hit with a formal complaint because of alleged breaches of the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA): the platform appears to have used sensitive personal data for targeted advertising. The complaint is filed by nine civil society organisations including European Digital Rights (EDRi), AI Forensics and Centre for Democracy and Technology Europe (CDT). It comes after evidence compiled by AI Forensics on the basis of X's Ad Repository, found that 'major brands as well as public and financial institutions engaged in targeted online advertising', based on special categories of personal data, such as political opinions, sexual orientation, religious beliefs and health conditions. Under the DSA, which entered into force for the largest online platforms – which includes X – in late 2023, platforms are prohibited from offering targeted advertising based on profiling using these special categories of data. AI Forensics uncovered evidence, for example, that 'X allowed Total Energies, the multinational energy and petroleum company, to run ads on its platform excluding users who had engaged with keywords related to ecologist political figures,' the complaint said. In addition, fast-food chain McDonalds could run ads 'excluding X users who had engaged with keywords related to McDonalds' own trade union as well as antidepressants and suicide'. The organisations call on the national Digital Services Coordinators and the European Commission to investigate the potential breach. The Commission began an investigation into X under the DSA in December 2023. In preliminary findings published last summer, the EU executive concluded that blue checkmarks used by the platforms are deceptive and that it falls short on transparency and accountability requirements. X has had the opportunity to reply in writing. The investigation is still pending.
Euronews
35 minutes ago
- Euronews
Socrates would question AI's role in democracy, says former Greek PM
In Plato's cave, humans watch silhouettes flicker on the wall, unaware that fires just behind them are distorting reality into a shadow world – not unlike the world we find ourselves in today, aided by social media and artificial intelligence (AI), argues the former Greek prime minister George Papandreou. According to Plato's scenario, if someone escaped the cave, their eyes would be overwhelmed by the sunlight, but once adjusted, they would see the world for what it truly is. However, the escapee would not be able to rescue the others, because they would be unable to convince them to leave the cave. Though Plato wrote his cave allegory around 380 BC, he may as well have been writing today about the future of democracy and AI, according to Papandreou, who served as Greece's prime minister from 2009 to 2011 and is a current MP of the Hellenic Parliament. 'Plato is saying we can get very much stuck into these worlds and think it's a reality, and [become] very, very reactive to any kind of change that may happen,' Papandreou told Euronews Next at the United Nations' AI For Good Summit in Geneva. Despite the tech industry's push to position AI as the foundation of all human knowledge, Papandreou thinks Plato would see AI not as the sunlight outside the cave but as the shadows inside: intriguing and persuasive – but misleading, and far from the truth. That doesn't mean AI won't continue to have a major impact on the real world, though, according to Papandreou. 'AI is impacting our culture,' he said. 'It's the way we think about the world, the way that we communicate, and our culture is also, I would add, our political culture in a democracy'. Socrates' possible take on AI Plato's mentor Socrates, a staunch defender of knowledge and wisdom, called out the flaws of democracy and was ultimately killed for it. In one discussion between Socrates and the orator Giorgias – who trained young people how to debate and win arguments in order to gain power – Socrates argued that people should debate respectfully with the goal of understanding each other, rather than bully others to win arguments. There's a close parallel with today's debates on the impact AI will have on social media platforms, Papandreou said. He questioned whether social media platforms 'help for real debate or do they push polarisation? Or with our likes, our thumbs up, our thumbs down – is it trying to dominate? Is it bullying? Is it polarising?' Papandreou believes that in today's world, Socrates would interrogate AI's role in society, including its purpose, whether it will help create a just society or put power into the hands of only a few people, and whether it promotes the truth and furthers our understanding of the world. Socrates's answer, Papandreou believes, would be that today there are many paradoxes and threats to democracy – including AI. 'On the one hand we say [the] internet, and of course AI, [are] democratising, on the other hand we have it highly centralised, so who controls the algorithms, and who owns AI?' 'One of the ideas that democracy was invented was to make sure that power is not concentrated,' he added. Applying lessons of the Ancient Greeks Papandreou believes governments today should take a leaf out of Ancient Greece's book, where citizens met to debate and vote on proposals in one of the earliest examples of the democratic process. Today, that could look like a government platform for every citizen to debate issues such as AI. This would give everyone a voice, including women and migrants, to let them have a say in policy and no decision by the government would be decided without this deliberative process. In ancient Athens, there were admittedly fewer citizens, who could sit across the Acropolis and be heard. However, with today's population this becomes trickier. Given today's world population outpaces ancient Athens' by a wide margin, Papandreou said a modern version could be an online platform that allows citizens to debate issues such as AI and sends feedback to governments, giving everyone a voice in policymaking. Such tools would need to be thoroughly vetted, he said, and should be used to empower citizens – not for surveillance. But in an age of information overload and claims that AI knows everything, it's not just governments that can learn from the Greek philosophers' approach. Studies show that AI may be eroding people's critical thinking skills – which Socrates and Plato certainly would not have gotten behind, Papandreou argues. 'I think that's where we need to be, not be a brain to store information, but to be a brain that thinks about the information we're getting and understand what might be valid or may not be,' he said. Humility may be another key to using these tools effectively. In one story from Plato's Apology text, Socrates decides to investigate his reputation as the wisest person in Ancient Greece. He questions politicians and artists – only to discover that those who claim to have knowledge actually know less than they think. Plato instructs us that if we acknowledge how little we know, we have more space for questions, dialogue, and true understanding. Perhaps in the AI era, Socrates' best-known quote may be more relevant than ever: 'The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing'.
