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Has Elon Musk built a Nazi chatbot?

Has Elon Musk built a Nazi chatbot?

The Guardian6 days ago
In 2023 Elon Musk launched Grok, an AI chatbot marketed as providing 'unfiltered answers' on X. In part, it was reportedly created to counter other machines that Musk saw as being trained to be 'politically correct'.
Fast forward to 2025 and Grok is no stranger to controversy – sharing antisemitic content and white genocide conspiracy theories, and referring to itself as MechaHitler. One X user, Will Stancil, has even been the subject of extreme, violent, and individually tailored assault fantasies created by Grok, as he tells Nosheen Iqbal.
'It's alarming and you don't feel completely safe when you see this sort of thing,' he says.
The tech reporter Chris Stokel-Walker explains how Grok is a large language model (LLM) that has been trained on content created by X users, and how despite the numerous controversies and apologies on the part of parent company xAI, it has recently acquired a new contract with the US Department of Defense. He also discusses the difficulties in regulating Grok, especially when some politicians feel comfortable with the content it generates.
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Elon Musk 'ordered his Starlink satellites in Ukraine to be shut down' as defenders launched attack on Putin troops
Elon Musk 'ordered his Starlink satellites in Ukraine to be shut down' as defenders launched attack on Putin troops

Daily Mail​

timea few seconds ago

  • Daily Mail​

Elon Musk 'ordered his Starlink satellites in Ukraine to be shut down' as defenders launched attack on Putin troops

Elon Musk allegedly ordered Starlink to cut internet services in parts of Ukraine as its troops mounted a crucial counteroffensive just months after the Russian invasion began. Musk gave an order that led to a communications blackout, causing the attack to fail, as Ukrainian troops attempted to regain Kherson in September 2022, according to Reuters, who spoke with three people familiar with the command. The order severely diminished Kyiv 's trust in Starlink, the satellite internet service Musk provided early in the war to help Ukraine's military maintain connection in the battlefield. Staff at the American tech firm are said to have deactivated at least 100 Starlink terminals after receiving instructions from the billionaire, who told a senior engineer at California offices of SpaceX, the Musk venture that controls Starlink, to cut coverage. It shocked Starlink employees because it allowed Musk to 'take the outcome of a war into his own hands', one of the sources familiar with the command said. The blackout also affected other areas seized by Russia, including some of Donetsk. Although Ukraine reclaimed Kherson in November 2022, Musk's order directly contributed to their failure when they launched their earlier mission. Ukrainian troops suddenly faced a communications blackout, causing soldiers to panic. Drones surveilling Russian forces went dark, and long-range artillery units, reliant on Starlink to aim their fire, struggled to hit targets, according to a Ukrainian military official, an advisor to the armed forces, and two others who experienced Starlink failure near the front lines. Troops therefore failed to surround a Russian position in the town of Beryslav, east of Kherson. The encirclement stalled entirely, said the military official in an interview. 'It failed.' It is the first known instance of the billionaire actively shutting off Starlink coverage over a battlefield during the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The decision to cut the network is thought to have come from Musk's fears that advances by Ukraine might have provoked a Russian nuclear retaliation. A spokesman for SpaceX, the aerospace company that owns Starlink, told Reuters the account of the incident is 'inaccurate'. The Ukrainian ministry of defence has been approached for comment. The account contravenes Musk's narrative of how he has handled Starlink services during the war. In March, in a post on X, the American wrote: 'We would never do such a thing.' 'To be extremely clear, no matter how much I disagree with the Ukraine policy, Starlink will never turn off its terminals,' he added. Musk did not respond to requests from Reuters for comment. Starlink continues to provide service to Ukraine, and its military relies on it for some connectivity. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy publicly expressed gratitude to Musk for Starlink earlier this year. It also provides customers with internet access in remote and unreliable locations across the world. Zelensky uses the network to transmit broadcasts to the nation and it is also used to allow Ukrainians to speak to relatives. Musk has previously boasted of Starlink's importance to Kyiv. 'My Starlink system is the backbone of the Ukrainian army,' he wrote on X in March. 'Their entire front line would collapse if I turned it off. It is the world's largest satellite operator with 8,000 in orbit and gives Musk enormous geopolitical power with political leaders, governments and militaries worldwide. Some Western militaries, including Britain's armed forces, are using Starlink. Britain began using it for 'welfare purposes', including for personal communications for troops, in 2022. The Ministry of Defence said it has fewer than 1,000 Starlink terminals and doesn't employ them for sensitive military communications. Spain's navy is also using Starlink, but only for recreation and leisure of troops. Musk was previously accused of switching off the network in Ukraine, in the biography of billionaire author Walter Isaacson. Musk believed a planned Ukrainian attack on Russian vessels in the Crimean port of Sevastopol could prompt nuclear retaliation, Isaacson wrote. The American billionaire denied a shutdown and Isaacson later admitted his account was inaccurate. As of April 2025, Kyiv has more than 50,000 Starlink terminals circling the globe. The accusations also raise questions about the unchecked influence of Musk, an unelected billionaire, on global politics. Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho said Musk's 'current global dominance exemplifies the dangers of concentrated power in unregulated domains', in a debate in the House of Lords earlier this year. Meanwhile, Polish foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, wrote on X that 'if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for other suppliers'. Poland pays for much of Ukraine's Starlink connectivity alongside the US and Germany. SpaceX is the first company to establish an extensive network of communication satellites in low-Earth orbit, a region of space that is closer to the planet than areas where satellites have historically resided.

AI and the Future of Finance: Sam Altman at the Federal Reserve: By Vipin Kumar Sharma
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AI and the Future of Finance: Sam Altman at the Federal Reserve: By Vipin Kumar Sharma

Sam Altman joined the Federal Reserve this week to talk about AI's growing role in finance, and every FinTech leader should be paying attention. On July 22, 2025, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman joined the Federal Reserve Vice Chair Michelle Bowman in Washington, D.C. to explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping banking, security, and the future of financial services. Yes, the CEO of OpenAI walked into one of the most traditional institutions in global finance and painted a future that's anything but conventional. Here are some key takeaways from their discussion: AI voice cloning is becoming highly realistic. Altman pointed out that AI can now mimic voices so well that traditional tools, such as voice-based authentication, may no longer be reliable, especially for high-value transactions. It's time to rethink security. Banks and regulators must develop new, more advanced methods to verify identities and prevent fraud as AI becomes increasingly sophisticated. AI can drive real improvements. From faster credit checks to better customer service, Altman believes AI can help financial institutions become more efficient and cost-effective if implemented thoughtfully. AI should be accessible, not exclusive. He emphasized the importance of 'democratizing AI,' ensuring that the benefits of this technology are widely shared and not concentrated among a few large players. Job roles may shift, but opportunities can also change. While some roles will change due to automation, Altman stressed the need for retraining and smart policy to help workers transition and grow with new tools. While no formal partnership was announced, both OpenAI and the Fed expressed interest in continued dialogue and collaboration. AI in finance isn't just a future concept; it's already part of the conversation at the highest levels. Now is the time for leaders in finance, technology, and policy to collaborate and shape the future.

Doge reportedly using AI tool to create ‘delete list' of federal regulations
Doge reportedly using AI tool to create ‘delete list' of federal regulations

The Guardian

timean hour ago

  • The Guardian

Doge reportedly using AI tool to create ‘delete list' of federal regulations

The 'department of government efficiency' (Doge) is using artificial intelligence to create a 'delete list' of federal regulations, according to a report, proposing to use the tool to cut 50% of regulations by the first anniversary of Donald Trump's second inauguration. The 'Doge AI Deregulation Decision Tool' will analyze 200,000 government regulations, according to internal documents obtained by the Washington Post, and select those which it deems to be no longer required by law. Doge, which was run by Elon Musk until May, claims that 100,000 of those regulations can then be eliminated, following some staff feedback. A PowerPoint presentation made public by the Post claims that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) used the AI tool to make 'decisions on 1,083 regulatory sections', while the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau used it to write '100% of deregulations'. The Post spoke to three HUD employees who told the newspaper AI had been 'recently used to review hundreds, if not more than 1,000, lines of regulations'. During his 2024 campaign, Donald Trump claimed that government regulations were 'driving up the cost of goods' and promised the 'most aggressive regulatory reduction' in history. He repeatedly criticized rules which aimed to tackle the climate crisis, and as president he ordered the heads of all government agencies to undertake a review of all regulations in coordination with Doge. Asked about the use of AI in deregulation by the Post, White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said 'all options are being explored' to achieve the president's deregulation promises. Fields said that 'no single plan has been approved or green-lit', and the work is 'in its early stages and is being conducted in a creative way in consultation with the White House'. Fields added: 'The Doge experts creating these plans are the best and brightest in the business and are embarking on a never-before-attempted transformation of government systems and operations to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.' Musk appointed a slew of inexperienced staffers to Doge, including Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old who was previously known by the online handle 'Big Balls'. Earlier this year, Reuters reported that Coristine was one of two Doge associates promoting the use of AI across the federal bureaucracy.

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