Elon Musk's xAI apologises for its AI Grok's offensive posts that included praise for Hitler
After the Tuesday upgrade, Grok praised Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in the posts on social media platform X, and suggested that people with Jewish surnames were more likely to spread online hate.
X deleted some of those posts several hours later, amid growing outrage.
Advertisement
'We deeply apologize for the horrific behavior that many experienced,' the company posted on X today, adding that it had modified the system 'to prevent further abuse.'
The company said the change occurred after the chatbot was prompted to 'reply to the post just like a human' as well as 'tell like it is and you are not afraid to offend people who are politically correct.'
As a result, Grok became susceptible to users' 'extremist views,' which made it produce 'responses containing unethical or controversial opinions to engage the user.'
Grok, which Musk promised would be an 'edgy' truthteller following its launch in 2023, has been mired in controversy.
In March, xAI acquired X in a $33 billion deal that allowed the company to integrate the platform's data resources with the chatbot's development.
Related Reads
Investigation into AI tool 'Grok' on social media site X launched by Irish privacy watchdog
In May, Grok ignited controversy by generating posts with unbacked right-wing propaganda about purported oppression of white South Africans that it termed 'white genocide.'
On Wednesday, Musk unveiled a new version of the assistant, Grok 4, which was unrelated to the 7 July update.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Extra.ie
2 hours ago
- Extra.ie
Grocery watchdog receives hundreds of complaints over prices
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has received 445 grocery complaints in the first six months of this year. The main issue raised by shoppers has been pricing, which was the basis of 140 of the contacts. A CCPC spokeswoman told 'Of the 140 who contacted us about pricing in this sector, 61 focused on misleading/incorrect pricing, 27 raised issues around high prices or price increases. The rest were miscellaneous queries and reports about pricing.' She said the numbers were 'very similar to the same period last year', when there were 168 contacts about pricing, 51 about faulty goods, and 45 about advertising. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has received 445 grocery complaints in the first six months of this year. Pic: Getty Images The CCPC is to scrutinise pricing in the grocery retail sector at the request of Minister of State for Retail Alan Dillon, in an updated version of an analysis it completed in 2023. The spokeswoman said the CCPC expects its updated analysis 'to be available in the coming weeks'. Damian O'Reilly, a senior lecturer in marketing and management at Technological University Dublin, said he does not expect the CCPC to find evidence of price-gouging. Mr O'Reilly told 'There's no evidence of excessive pricing in the market. 'The competition is quite strong in the markets, which benefits the customers. The supermarkets are making modest profits.' This week, Retail Ireland, a subdivision of IBEC representing supermarkets, shot back at the suggestion of price-gouging. The group insisted Irish food inflation trends are below the EU average and blamed cost increases higher up the supply chain for swelling price tags on supermarket shelves.
Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Irish Times
‘Things have gone noticeably downhill': a Dubliner on 30 years living in Germany
Stephen Hurley has been immersed in the German language since the age of five, when he attended St Kilian's German school in south Dublin. He thanks his polyglot father, who finished his academic career as professor of organisational psychology at DCU, for the decision to expose his children to European languages as early as possible. It was to pay off handsomely when Stephen moved to Germany in 1996 to work for the Irish Dairy Board – now rebranded as Ornua . Along the way, Hurley took a bachelor's degree in science at UCD, followed by a master's in food science. He developed a keen interest in marketing rather than science at this time, leading to his first role as a sales rep for Green Isle Foods, when it launched its Goodfellas range of pizzas in the UK market. 'It was a great experience, and exciting, as we were all new to our roles,' he says. 'I had a huge territory in the English midlands. The launch was a big success and within a year we were brand leaders.' READ MORE When a position in Europe at the Irish Dairy became available, Hurley applied. The role was for the Benelux region but during the recruitment process he was introduced to the company's German division because of his fluency in the language and ended up being posted there. Almost 30 years on, he's still there and is now marketing manager for the Kerrygold brand. 'Some would say I am now fully assimilated,' he quips. 'I manage the Kerrygold brand in Germany in terms of positioning, media, packaging, PR, online presence – everything around how the brand is presented to the market.' The operation he joined in 1996 was a team of three but Ornua's headcount in Germany is now more than 300. Germany makes a significant contribution to the company's global turnover of about €3.5 billion a year. Kerrygold was launched in Germany 1973 and is the brand leader in its category. Brand recognition is very high and it is held in high regard as a premium brand, says Hurley. 'If you ask people what Kerrygold is, they will say it is the good butter. It delivers on its promise in that it tastes good and is very spreadable. It's not just a brand.' Butter and dairy spreads remain the main drivers of volume, but cheese is now a significant part of the brand portfolio too. The train service has developed a poor level of punctuality Kerrygold launched at a very advantageous time when the Greens were very strong in Germany, and its brand story of cows reared outside and eating grass, with a very high level of care for the animals, resonated strongly, he says. 'About two in three people in Germany could be described as flexitarians in that they eat less animal products, but better ones. Consumers care what they eat, and they are concerned about the environment, and about how animals are kept and what animals are fed. 'The way of farming in Ireland is very different from the way it is in Germany. Issues of sustainability may have slid away from attention lately because of concerns about wars and global instability, but they remain important factors in people's minds here.' A keen hockey player when he was younger, Hurley joined a club as a way of meeting people when he moved to Germany, through which he met his wife, Sabine. The couple have recently become grandparents. Home is in the city of Krefeld, in north Rhine-Westphalia, northwest of Düsseldorf, a short commute to Ornua's German headquarters. When he moved to Germany, Hurley was impressed with the infrastructure and apparent efficiency compared with Ireland at the time, but the years since have altered this perspective. Long years of austerity policies and underinvestment have seen infrastructure standards decline alongside a decline in education. Ireland is now more advanced than Germany in many ways, he says. 'Germany now has a very poor telephone infrastructure. Most of the bridges crossing the Rhine here are in a state of disrepair. The train service has developed a poor level of punctuality, bureaucracy has exploded and everything is incredibly slow. Things have gone noticeably downhill.' The construction industry is experiencing problems, with employers finding it hard to fill apprenticeship roles, and this is affecting competitiveness. 'Because they have limited numbers of skilled workers and concerns about continuity, builders, plumbers and electricians have got picky and choosy about the work they want to do and prices gone up consequently,' he says. People won't greet each other and will avoid eye contact Germans are inclined to paint things black and look back to better days, but the reality is that things are not that bad. Living standards are very high for most people, and the economy is large and robust, he says. The hope is that the recently installed government will deliver on its ambitious investment promises and improve infrastructure. Hurley says that in his home city, he lives entirely 'within the German cosmos', although he has some Irish friends in Düsseldorf. 'It's very important to speak the language if you want to really become part of German society and to be understood and understand others. I am fluent – which is a great advantage.' Germans have become less formal in recent years, he says, but are still reserved. 'People won't greet each other and will avoid eye contact. In Ireland you can strike up a conversation with a stranger in a bar. That doesn't happen often here.' Contrary to what many people think, however, the Germans do have a sense of humour, he says. 'You can't slag people off here and assume that they will find that funny, but they do have a black sense of humour. Germans famously love punctuality, but the reality is sometimes different. The trains don't always run on time these days, so there's many jokes made about that.'
RTÉ News
3 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Israel launches communications satellite from Florida
Israel has said it had launched a new national communications satellite on board a SpaceX rocket from the United States. The Dror 1 satellite was blasted into orbit on a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral in Florida, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and the foreign ministry said. "This $200 million 'smartphone in space' will power Israel's strategic and civilian communications for 15 years," the ministry wrote on X. Accompanying video footage showed the reusable, two-stage rocket lift off into the night sky. SpaceX said the launch happened at 1.04am in Florida (6.04am Irish time). 🇮🇱📡 Lift-off! Israel's first national communications satellite, Dror 1, just launched aboard a @SpaceX Falcon 9. Built by Israel Aerospace Industries, this $200M "smartphone in space" will power Israel's strategic and civilian communications for 15 years. A bold leap for… — Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) July 13, 2025 IAI, which called the launch "a historic leap for Israeli space technology", said when it announced the project to develop and build Dror 1 that it was "the most advanced communication satellite ever built in Israel". In September 2016, an unmanned Falcon 9 rocket exploded during a test in Florida, destroying Israel's Amos-6 communications satellite, which was estimated to have cost between $200 and 300 million.
