‘MechaHitler': Why Elon Musk's chatbot is at the centre of an Australian legal dispute
What is Grok AI, and why has it been controversial?
Elon Musk's AI chatbot, dubbed Grok, is embedded in X (formerly Twitter) and has made headlines for numerous controversies – as well as for winning a $US200 million ($300 million) contract with the Pentagon. It's arguably more capable at present than ChatGPT and Gemini, but has proven much more unpredictable too.
Last week, Grok declared itself a super-Nazi, referring to itself as 'MechaHitler', and made racist, sexist and antisemitic posts that its parent company, xAI, later deleted. Musk has said he wants Grok to 'not shy away from making claims which are politically incorrect', and this seems to be the result.
Then, just days later, xAI launched a girlfriend chatbot that is available to 12-year-olds, despite being programmed to engage in sexual conversation.
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The sexualised AI chatbot, named Ani, communicates with emojis and flirtatious messages and can appear dressed in lingerie. It's designed to act as if it is 'crazy in love' and 'extremely jealous', according to programming instructions posted on social media.
Despite all this, xAI announced it had won a contract worth up to $US200 million to develop artificial intelligence tools for the US Department of Defence.
If the chaos proves anything, it's that AI chatbots such as Grok are moving incredibly quickly, and regulators and governments are racing to catch up.
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Australia's online safety watchdog is back in court this week, battling Elon Musk's X over issues of AI, free speech and who is ultimately responsible for detecting and removing violent online content. What is Grok AI, and why has it been controversial? Elon Musk's AI chatbot, dubbed Grok, is embedded in X (formerly Twitter) and has made headlines for numerous controversies – as well as for winning a $US200 million ($300 million) contract with the Pentagon. It's arguably more capable at present than ChatGPT and Gemini, but has proven much more unpredictable too. Last week, Grok declared itself a super-Nazi, referring to itself as 'MechaHitler', and made racist, sexist and antisemitic posts that its parent company, xAI, later deleted. Musk has said he wants Grok to 'not shy away from making claims which are politically incorrect', and this seems to be the result. Then, just days later, xAI launched a girlfriend chatbot that is available to 12-year-olds, despite being programmed to engage in sexual conversation. Loading The sexualised AI chatbot, named Ani, communicates with emojis and flirtatious messages and can appear dressed in lingerie. It's designed to act as if it is 'crazy in love' and 'extremely jealous', according to programming instructions posted on social media. Despite all this, xAI announced it had won a contract worth up to $US200 million to develop artificial intelligence tools for the US Department of Defence. If the chaos proves anything, it's that AI chatbots such as Grok are moving incredibly quickly, and regulators and governments are racing to catch up.
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