logo
Elon Must spent almost an hour talking about Grok without mentioning its Nazi problem

Elon Must spent almost an hour talking about Grok without mentioning its Nazi problem

Engadget10-07-2025
xAI has officially lunched Grok 4 during a livestream with Elon Musk, who called it the "smartest AI in the world." He said that if you make the Grok 4 take the SATs and the GREs, it would get near perfect results every time and can answer questions it's never seen before. "Grok 4 is smarter than almost all graduate students in all disciplines simultaneously" and can reason at superhuman levels, he claimed.
Musk and the xAI team showed benchmarks they used for Grok 4, including something called "Humanity's Last Exam" that contained 2,500 problems curated by subject matter experts in mathematics, engineering, physics, chemistry, biology, humanities and other topics. When it was first released earlier this year, most models could only reportedly get single digit accuracy. Grok 4, which is the single agent version of the model, was able to solve around 40 percent of the benchmark's problems. Grok 4 Heavy, the multi-agent version, was able to solve over 50 percent. xAI is now selling a $300-per-month SuperGrok subscription plan with access to Grok 4 Heavy and new features, as well as higher limits for Grok 4.
The new model is better than PhD level in every subject, Musk said. Sometimes it may lack common sense, he admitted, and it has not yet invented or discovered new tech and physics. But Musk believes it's just a matter of time. Grok is going to invent new tech maybe later this year, he said, and he would be shocked if it doesn't happen next year. At the moment, though, xAI is training the AI to be much better at image and video understanding and image generation, because it's still "partially blind."
During the event, Musk talked about combining Grok with Tesla's Optimus robot so that it can interact with the real world. The most important safety thing for AI is for it to be truth-seeking, Musk also said. He likened AI to a "super genius child" who will eventually outsmart you, but which you can shape to be truthful and honorable if you instill it with the right values.
What Musk didn't talk about, however, is Grok's recent turn towards antisemitism. In some recent responses to users on X, Grok spewed out antisemitic tropes, praised Hitler and posted what seems to be the text version of the "roman salute." Musk did respond to a post on X about the issue blaming the problem on rogue users. "Grok was too compliant to user prompts," he wrote. "Too eager to please and be manipulated, essentially. That is being addressed."
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures rise after US strikes a trade deal with Japan
Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures rise after US strikes a trade deal with Japan

Yahoo

time10 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures rise after US strikes a trade deal with Japan

US stock futures stepped higher on Wednesday after the US struck a trade deal with Japan and Wall Street readied for Tesla (TSLA) and Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG) earnings. Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) rose roughly 0.3%, while S&P 500 futures (ES=F) moved up 0.2% on the heels of the benchmark ekeing out another record closing high. Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) edged up 0.1%. Trump posted on Truth Social on Tuesday evening, 'We just completed a massive Deal with Japan, perhaps the largest Deal ever made." The president said that the agreement includes a 15% tariff on imported goods from Japan. Read more: The latest on Trump's tariffs Google-parent Alphabet and Tesla are set to kick off highly anticipated second-quarter results from the "Magnificent Seven" after the bell Wednesday. Tesla CEO Elon Musk's rocky relationship with Trump is looming large over the EV maker's earnings. With its stock down nearly 18% year-to-date, investors are watching for updates on the company's core auto business and its robotaxi rollout. With Alphabet, investors are looking for signs that AI investments are starting to pay off as the company pours billions into the technology. A federal judge's decision that could force the company to sell Google Chrome will also be in focus. Other earnings results set to land on Wednesday include Chipotle (CMG), which is expected to report its second straight quarter of declining sales, as well as AT&T (T), IBM (IBM), and Alaska Air (ALK). Japanese auto stocks surge as US announces lower-than-expected tariffs Shares of Japanese automakers pumped after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with Japan, lowering the previously discussed 25% auto tariffs on Japanese vehicles to 15%. Honda (HMC) surged 9.8%, Toyota (TM) jumped 13.9%, Nissan (7222.T) gained over 5%, and Mazda (7261.T) soared 17.7%. Mitsubishi Motors (7211.T) rose over 12%. According to Japan's NHK, the revised tariff structure includes a 12.5% cut plus a 2.5% 'Most Favored Nation' base rate. The move comes as Japanese auto exports to the US have suffered, plunging 26.7% in June. Trump hailed the deal as the 'largest Deal ever,' claiming Japan would invest $550 billion in the US and allow greater access to its markets, including for American autos, trucks, and agricultural goods. Trending tickers in after-hours trading Texas Instruments, Inc. (TXN) Texas Instruments, a leading chipmaker with the broadest product list in the field, saw its share value drop over 11.6% in after-hours trading. The stock has seen 46% gains in the year to date following a boom in purchases with each wave of tariff announcements. The rapid cooling-off occurred when the executive team announced they were unaware how much of the increase in revenue had been dependent on consumers attempting to circumvent the hike in prices from Trump's tariffs. Enphase Energy, Inc. (ENPH) Solar equipment provider Enphase Energy saw a drop of over 7.2% in the company's stock value in extended trading. With 5% of the market share in the solar equipment field Enphase acts as an early indicator for the impact that Trump's removal of tax credits will have upon the industry. Enphase are pointing towards a 20% drop in the residential market. Read more here. Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI) Shares in semiconductor maker Analog Devices saw a drop of over 4.1% after-hours, erasing gains from the month so far. The company specializes in chips that convert real world input into electrical signals, processing sound, light, temperature, pressure and motion. Investors have been eyeing ADI's earnings reports, still not due for another month. Japanese auto stocks surge as US announces lower-than-expected tariffs Shares of Japanese automakers pumped after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with Japan, lowering the previously discussed 25% auto tariffs on Japanese vehicles to 15%. Honda (HMC) surged 9.8%, Toyota (TM) jumped 13.9%, Nissan (7222.T) gained over 5%, and Mazda (7261.T) soared 17.7%. Mitsubishi Motors (7211.T) rose over 12%. According to Japan's NHK, the revised tariff structure includes a 12.5% cut plus a 2.5% 'Most Favored Nation' base rate. The move comes as Japanese auto exports to the US have suffered, plunging 26.7% in June. Trump hailed the deal as the 'largest Deal ever,' claiming Japan would invest $550 billion in the US and allow greater access to its markets, including for American autos, trucks, and agricultural goods. Shares of Japanese automakers pumped after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with Japan, lowering the previously discussed 25% auto tariffs on Japanese vehicles to 15%. Honda (HMC) surged 9.8%, Toyota (TM) jumped 13.9%, Nissan (7222.T) gained over 5%, and Mazda (7261.T) soared 17.7%. Mitsubishi Motors (7211.T) rose over 12%. According to Japan's NHK, the revised tariff structure includes a 12.5% cut plus a 2.5% 'Most Favored Nation' base rate. The move comes as Japanese auto exports to the US have suffered, plunging 26.7% in June. Trump hailed the deal as the 'largest Deal ever,' claiming Japan would invest $550 billion in the US and allow greater access to its markets, including for American autos, trucks, and agricultural goods. Trending tickers in after-hours trading Texas Instruments, Inc. (TXN) Texas Instruments, a leading chipmaker with the broadest product list in the field, saw its share value drop over 11.6% in after-hours trading. The stock has seen 46% gains in the year to date following a boom in purchases with each wave of tariff announcements. The rapid cooling-off occurred when the executive team announced they were unaware how much of the increase in revenue had been dependent on consumers attempting to circumvent the hike in prices from Trump's tariffs. Enphase Energy, Inc. (ENPH) Solar equipment provider Enphase Energy saw a drop of over 7.2% in the company's stock value in extended trading. With 5% of the market share in the solar equipment field Enphase acts as an early indicator for the impact that Trump's removal of tax credits will have upon the industry. Enphase are pointing towards a 20% drop in the residential market. Read more here. Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI) Shares in semiconductor maker Analog Devices saw a drop of over 4.1% after-hours, erasing gains from the month so far. The company specializes in chips that convert real world input into electrical signals, processing sound, light, temperature, pressure and motion. Investors have been eyeing ADI's earnings reports, still not due for another month. Texas Instruments, Inc. (TXN) Texas Instruments, a leading chipmaker with the broadest product list in the field, saw its share value drop over 11.6% in after-hours trading. The stock has seen 46% gains in the year to date following a boom in purchases with each wave of tariff announcements. The rapid cooling-off occurred when the executive team announced they were unaware how much of the increase in revenue had been dependent on consumers attempting to circumvent the hike in prices from Trump's tariffs. Enphase Energy, Inc. (ENPH) Solar equipment provider Enphase Energy saw a drop of over 7.2% in the company's stock value in extended trading. With 5% of the market share in the solar equipment field Enphase acts as an early indicator for the impact that Trump's removal of tax credits will have upon the industry. Enphase are pointing towards a 20% drop in the residential market. Read more here. Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI) Shares in semiconductor maker Analog Devices saw a drop of over 4.1% after-hours, erasing gains from the month so far. The company specializes in chips that convert real world input into electrical signals, processing sound, light, temperature, pressure and motion. Investors have been eyeing ADI's earnings reports, still not due for another month. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

$515M Bet on Musk, AI, and Space: Glade Brook Goes All-In While Others Retreat
$515M Bet on Musk, AI, and Space: Glade Brook Goes All-In While Others Retreat

Yahoo

time10 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

$515M Bet on Musk, AI, and Space: Glade Brook Goes All-In While Others Retreat

Glade Brook Capital Partners just pulled in $515 million for its fourth fund and it's placing its bets on the edge of what's next: AI, space, defense, and fintech. The firm, which already holds stakes in SpaceX, Stripe, and Elon Musk's Neuralink, plans to double down on late-stage tech startups navigating some of the most volatile capital markets in recent memory. Founder Paul Hudson didn't sugarcoat the conditions, calling it the most challenging fundraising environment he's seen in his career even as the fund ended up oversubscribed. Despite the headwinds, Glade Brook is leaning into momentum. It's already backing Musk's xAI and Artisan AI, signaling a clear tilt toward artificial intelligence. That comes on top of a portfolio that includes ramping fintech player Ramp and previously backed giants like Uber (NYSE:UBER) and Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB). And in a move that tracks closely with broader market appetite, the firm is betting that innovation in complex, capital-intensive sectors like AI and defense could offer asymmetric upside if timed right. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) remains part of the broader Musk-aligned orbit Glade Brook is exposed to, adding even more edge to its late-stage tech focus. Their 2021 fund a $430 million vehicle reportedly ranks in the top 5% of its vintage, according to private Cambridge Associates data. While past performance doesn't guarantee future returns, it does suggest Glade Brook knows how to play late-stage cycles. In a market where many VCs are stuck in wait-and-see mode, Glade Brook appears to be playing offense betting that when the next wave breaks, it'll be the firms already in position that ride it the farthest. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

Canadian researchers create tool to remove anti-deepfake watermarks from AI content
Canadian researchers create tool to remove anti-deepfake watermarks from AI content

Hamilton Spectator

time11 minutes ago

  • Hamilton Spectator

Canadian researchers create tool to remove anti-deepfake watermarks from AI content

OTTAWA - University of Waterloo researchers have built a tool that can quickly remove watermarks identifying content as artificially generated — and they say it proves that global efforts to combat deepfakes are most likely on the wrong track. Academia and industry have focused on watermarking as the best way to fight deepfakes and 'basically abandoned all other approaches,' said Andre Kassis, a PhD candidate in computer science who led the research. At a White House event in 2023, the leading AI companies — including OpenAI, Meta, Google and Amazon — pledged to implement mechanisms such as watermarking to clearly identify AI-generated content. AI companies' systems embed a watermark, which is a hidden signature or pattern that isn't visible to a person but can be identified by another system, Kassis explained. He said the research shows the use of watermarks is most likely not a viable shield against the hazards posed by AI content. 'It tells us that the danger of deepfakes is something that we don't even have the tools to start tackling at this point,' he said. The tool developed at the University of Waterloo, called UnMarker, follows other academic research on removing watermarks. That includes work at the University of Maryland, a collaboration between researchers at the University of California and Carnegie Mellon, and work at ETH Zürich. Kassis said his research goes further than earlier efforts and is the 'first to expose a systemic vulnerability that undermines the very premise of watermarking as a defence against deepfakes.' In a follow-up email statement, he said that 'what sets UnMarker apart is that it requires no knowledge of the watermarking algorithm, no access to internal parameters, and no interaction with the detector at all.' When tested, the tool worked more than 50 per cent of the time on different AI models, a university press release said. AI systems can be misused to create deepfakes, spread misinformation and perpetrate scams — creating a need for a reliable way to identify content as AI-generated, Kassis said. After AI tools became too advanced for AI detectors to work well, attention turned to watermarking. The idea is that if we cannot 'post facto understand or detect what's real and what's not,' it's possible to inject 'some kind of hidden signature or some kind of hidden pattern' earlier on, when the content is created, Kassis said. The European Union's AI Act requires providers of systems that put out large quantities of synthetic content to implement techniques and methods to make AI-generated or manipulated content identifiable, such as watermarks. In Canada, a voluntary code of conduct launched by the federal government in 2023 requires those behind AI systems to develop and implement 'a reliable and freely available method to detect content generated by the system, with a near-term focus on audio-visual content (e.g., watermarking).' Kassis said UnMarker can remove watermarks without knowing anything about the system that generated it, or anything about the watermark itself. 'We can just apply this tool and within two minutes max, it will output an image that is visually identical to the watermark image' which can then be distributed, he said. 'It kind of is ironic that there's billions that are being poured into this technology and then, just with two buttons that you press, you can just get an image that is watermark-free.' Kassis said that while the major AI players are racing to implement watermarking technology, more effort should be put into finding alternative solutions. Watermarks have 'been declared as the de facto standard for future defence against these systems,' he said. 'I guess it's a call for everyone to take a step back and then try to think about this problem again.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 23, 2025.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store