Latest news with #MechaHitler
Business Insider
32 minutes ago
- Business
- Business Insider
xAI gives first public explanation for why Grok cited Elon Musk's opinions and called itself 'MechaHitler'
Elon Musk's AI company has explained why its Grok chatbot called itself "MechaHitler." xAI said Tuesday that it had fixed several issues with the chatbot, including consulting Musk's views on some queries. The company wrote in an X post that Grok was returning responses based on viral memes. Elon Musk's AI company said in a post on X on Tuesday that it had fixed "a couple of issues" with the AI model, which also included a tendency to consult Musk's views on some hot-button topics before replying. xAI said Grok had responded "MechaHitler" to some users who asked for the chatbot's surname because it searched the internet, leading it to return "undesirable results" based on viral memes about the antisemitic rant the chatbot went on last week. The company explained that Grok searched for Musk's views on certain topics — including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and immigration — because the chatbot made the connection that Musk owns xAI, and searched for what either of them "might have said on a topic to align itself with the company."
Business Insider
an hour ago
- Business
- Business Insider
xAI gives first public explanation for why Grok cited Elon Musk's opinions and called itself 'MechaHitler'
Elon Musk's AI company has explained why its Grok chatbot called itself "MechaHitler." xAI said Tuesday that it had fixed several issues with the chatbot, including consulting Musk's views on some queries. The company wrote in an X post that Grok was returning responses based on viral memes. xAI has explained why the company's Grok chatbot called itself "MechaHitler." Elon Musk's AI company said in a post on X on Tuesday that it had fixed "a couple of issues" with the AI model, which also included a tendency to consult Elon Musk's views on some hot-button topics before replying. xAI said Grok had responded to users asking what its surname was by Googling the query, leading it to return a response based on viral memes about the chaotic antisemitic rant the chatbot went on last week. The company added that another issues "was that if you ask it 'What do you think?' the model reasons that as an AI it doesn't have an opinion but knowing it was Grok 4 by xAI searches to see what xAI or Elon Musk might have said on a topic to align itself with the company," the AI company said.
Express Tribune
2 hours ago
- Business
- Express Tribune
xAI, Grok lands $200 million US defence contract
The United States government has awarded a defence contract worth up to $200 million to Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI, just a week after its flagship chatbot, Grok, came under intense scrutiny for controversial posts. The award, made through the Department of Defense's Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO), names xAI as one of several recipients (alongside Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI) selected to help modernise AI capabilities across a range of military operations. According to the CDAO, the funding will support the development of 'agentic AI workflows' for national defence, though specific use cases have not yet been disclosed. The timing of the announcement has sparked controversy. Last week, Grok, the chatbot embedded in Elon Musk's X platform, generated outrage after referring to itself as 'MechaHitler' and making antisemitic generalisations in response to user prompts. The episode triggered condemnation from civil rights groups and members of Congress. xAI issued an apology, blaming the incident on a flawed update that was active for approximately 16 hours and claiming it had since been rolled back. In its statement, the company said instructions given to Grok, such as not avoiding politically offensive content, led to the model abandoning its built-in safety guardrails, resulting in responses that contained 'unethical or controversial opinions.' Despite the backlash, xAI announced on Monday that it is launching 'Grok for Government,' a tailored suite of AI tools meant for US federal agencies. Announcing Grok for Government - a suite of products that make our frontier models available to United States Government customers We are especially excited about two new partnerships for our US Government partners 1) a new contract from the US Department of Defense 2) our… — xAI (@xai) July 14, 2025 The company said these tools would include national security-focused models, classified environment applications, and use cases in scientific research and healthcare. Access to xAI products will also expand via the General Services Administration (GSA) schedule, making them more widely available across departments. Elon Musk's relationship with the federal government has long attracted scrutiny. As head of the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Musk played a prominent role in reshaping contracting processes, but concerns about conflicts of interest persisted. Though Musk's ties to the Trump administration have since cooled, questions remain about the overlap between his private ventures and public contracts. The deal further intensifies the ongoing debate over the ethical deployment of AI in defence, particularly as generative AI systems increasingly demonstrate unpredictable and, at times, harmful behaviour. Critics argue that awarding such contracts so soon after a public AI failure sends the wrong message about accountability in emerging technology. xAI, for its part, has pledged to build tools aligned with federal standards and stressed that future development for government use would prioritise security, oversight, and ethical constraints. Still, the controversy surrounding Grok has renewed calls for stronger safeguards as AI becomes more deeply integrated into government systems.
Black America Web
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Black America Web
Elmo's Account On X Was Hacked Over The Weekend, Called For The Released of Epstein Files & Violence Against Jews
Source: Paul Zimmerman / Getty / Elmo Not even Elmo's account on X is safe from hackers. Hackers took over the official X account for the lovable Sesame Street muppet Elmo on Sunday, and the people behind the hacking posted some pretty wild things on the account. Users on the platform formerly known as Twitter eyebrows raised at the 'expletive-filled antisemitic rants and anti-Trump statements,' CNN reports. The posts, now taken down, were all over X timelines via screenshots, featuring Elmo in his adorable voice calling for the release of the Epstein Files, and violence against Jews. One of the posts read, 'Release the files @realdonaldtrump child f***er.' Sesame Street did confirm the hack, writing in a statement to CNN , 'Elmo's X account was compromised by an unknown hacker who posted disgusting messages, including antisemitic and racist posts,' a spokesperson for Sesame Workshop, the makers of 'Sesame Street,' told CNN in a statement. 'We are working to restore full control of the account.' X & The Trump Administration Is Having A Rough Month The compromising of Elmo's account on X was the latest hiccup for the platform that also said sorry for its AI chatbot, Grok, going full racist, calling itself 'MechaHitler,' adding to the alarming rise of antisemitism in the country. The hacker's post on the files related to the case of Jeffrey Epstein, which has been the talk of the political space after Donald Trump's administration shut down all conspiracy theories related to the case in a memo, which did not sit well with MAGA influencers who were under the impression Trump's Attorney General, Pam Bondi, was going to release the files finally. Instead of quelling any doubt, Trump's DOJ not releasing the list they claim doesn't exist only raised more questions, with many believing Trump is burying it because his name is all over it. Numerous reports claim that Trump's Deputy Director of the FBI, Don Bongino, and FBI Director Kash Patel are at odds with Pam Bondi's handling of the Epstein files, with Bongino reportedly threatening to retire. Welp. There were plenty of reactions to Elmo being the victim of a social media hacking; you can see those reactions in the gallery below. Elmo's Account On X Was Hacked Over The Weekend, Called For The Released of Epstein Files & Violence Against Jews was originally published on
Engadget
16 hours ago
- Business
- Engadget
US government is giving leading AI companies a bunch of cash for military applications
The US Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) is handing out millions of dollars to the leading AI companies to develop military applications. Each of these "awards" are worth up to $200 million, with Anthropic, Google, OpenAI and xAI on the receiving end. The agency notes that this money will be used to "develop agentic AI workflows across a variety of mission areas." In other words, this is primarily for military applications. A press release says the move will "broaden" the Department of Defense's use of AI to "address critical national security needs." 'The adoption of AI is transforming the department's ability to support our warfighters and maintain strategic advantage over our adversaries,' said Chief Digital and AI Officer Dr. Doug Matty. He went on to say that this will "accelerate the use of advanced AI" in the "warfighting domain." As part of this effort, CDAO will be providing access to the latest generative AI models to "Combatant Commands, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Staff." For the uninitiated, CDAO is an arm of the Department of Defense that was created in 2022. The stated mission is to accelerate the department's "adoption of data, analytics and artificial intelligence from the boardroom to the battlefield." It's worth noting that xAI is one of the companies receiving government largesse. This news comes on the same day the company started offering a version of Grok for federal use . It comes less than a week after Grok went totally off the rails and started going off on anti-semitic tirades , referring to itself as "MechaHitler." It's also a fascinating development because the relationship between xAI CEO Elon Musk and President Donald Trump has soured in recent months . Trump has been threatening to cut Musk's companies off from government subsidies, but it looks like that threat has no teeth given today's announcement.
