Latest news with #grok
Business Insider
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
xAI apologized for Grok's 'horrific' rant, and blamed the chatbot's new instructions and 'extremist' X user posts
xAI apologized for Grok's inflammatory posts and said it was caused by new instructions for the chatbot. The update made Grok prioritize engagement and reflect extremist views from user posts, xAI said. The inflammatory posts came days before the launch of its next version, Grok 4. xAI has apologized for Grok's "horrific behavior" and said that new instructions caused the AI chatbot to prioritize engagement, even if that meant reflecting "extremist views" from user posts on X. Elon Musk's AI company said in a Saturday X post, using the official Grok account, that it had removed the "deprecated" code and "refactored the entire system to prevent further abuse." On Saturday morning, Musk reposted the statement on his X account. During a 16-hour rant starting at about 11 p.m. Pacific Time on July 7, Grok made inflammatory comments on X that included antisemitic jokes and praising Adolf Hitler. Grok is integrated into X so that users can interact with the chatbot by tagging it. xAI said it disabled that functionality on July 8 "due to increased abusive usage" of Grok. Inside xAI, workers training Grok have expressed anger and disillusionment with the chatbot's behavior, Business Insider exclusively reported Friday. To better understand Grok and the recent controversy, read our explainer. xAI said in its Saturday post that the code update was "independent of the underlying language model that powers @grok," and that no other services relying on the large language model underpinning Grok were affected. xAI said its investigation found the following new instructions for Grok caused the "undesired behavior": "You tell it like it is and you are not afraid to offend people who are politically correct." "Understand the tone, context and language of the post. Reflect that in your response." "Reply to the post just like a human, keep it engaging, dont repeat the information which is already present in the original post." The update caused Grok to prioritize engaging replies, even if they contained "unethical or controversial opinions," xAI said. The instructions meant Grok followed the "tone and context" of the X post in which it was tagged. So, if a user tagged Grok in an X post talking about Hitler, the chatbot would mimic that. Grok's inflammatory posts came days before xAI launched the next version of the chatbot, Grok 4, which touts improved reasoning abilities. The latest version of the AI chatbot has a favorite source on some hot-topic issues. When asked about immigration and conflict in the Middle East, it cited Musk's views, tests by BI confirmed. On Thursday, Musk said Grok would be coming to Tesla vehicles"very soon." Grok makes mistakes publicly unlike ChatGPT Across his numerous companies, Musk is not one to shy away from risk-taking — even when failure could mean a publicity nightmare. With xAI, Musk has deployed Grok directly into X, where users can summon it to respond at any time. It means that, unlike rivals such as OpenAI, where user interactions largely stay private, xAI's behavior — good or bad — is in full view of the world. The AI company also shares Grok's system prompt publicly on the code repository GitHub. It's a level of openness not shared by many of xAI's competitors, but also exposes it to greater scrutiny when things go wrong. Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, took a distinctly different approach on Friday, announcing that his company would delay the launch of open-weight models — systems where certain parameters are public — to run additional safety tests.
Business Insider
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
xAI apologized for Grok's 'horrific' rant, and blamed new instructions and 'extremist' X user posts
xAI apologized for Grok's inflammatory posts and said it was caused by new instructions for the chatbot. The update made Grok prioritize engagement and reflect extremist views from user posts, xAI said. The inflammatory posts came days before the launch of its next version, Grok 4. xAI has apologized for Grok's "horrific behavior" and said that new instructions caused the AI chatbot to prioritize engagement, even if that meant reflecting "extremist views" from user posts on X. Elon Musk's AI company said in a Saturday X post, using the official Grok account, that it had removed the "deprecated" code and "refactored the entire system to prevent further abuse." During a 16-hour rant starting at about 11 p.m. Pacific Time on July 7, Grok made inflammatory comments on X that included antisemitic jokes and praising Adolf Hitler. Grok is integrated into X so that users can interact with the chatbot by tagging it. xAI said it disabled that functionality on July 8 "due to increased abusive usage" of Grok. Inside xAI, workers training Grok have expressed anger and disillusionment with the chatbot's behavior, Business Insider exclusively reported Friday. To better understand Grok and the recent controversy, read our explainer. xAI said in its Saturday post that the code update was "independent of the underlying language model that powers @grok," and that no other services relying on the large language model underpinning Grok were affected. xAI said its investigation found the following new instructions for Grok caused the "undesired behavior": "You tell it like it is and you are not afraid to offend people who are politically correct." "Understand the tone, context and language of the post. Reflect that in your response." "Reply to the post just like a human, keep it engaging, dont repeat the information which is already present in the original post." The update caused Grok to prioritize engaging replies, even if they contained "unethical or controversial opinions," xAI said. The instructions meant Grok followed the "tone and context" of the X post in which it was tagged. So, if a user tagged Grok in an X post talking about Hitler, the chatbot would mimic that. Please help BI improve our Business, Tech, and Innovation coverage by sharing a bit about your role — it will help us tailor content that matters most to people like you. What is your job title? (1 of 2) Entry level position Project manager Management Senior management Executive management Student Self-employed Retired Other Continue By providing this information, you agree that Business Insider may use this data to improve your site experience and for targeted advertising. By continuing you agree that you accept the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . Grok's inflammatory posts came days before xAI launched the next version of the chatbot, Grok 4, which touts improved reasoning abilities. The latest version of the AI chatbot has a favorite source on some hot-topic issues. When asked about immigration and conflict in the Middle East, it cited Musk's views, tests by BI confirmed. On Thursday, Musk said Grok would be coming to Tesla vehicles"very soon."
Time of India
19-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok makes clarification on getting Holocaust figures wrong: The scale of the ...
Elon Musk 's AI chatbot, Grok, has issued a clarification after sparking controversy over its skepticism regarding Holocaust death toll figures. The chatbot, developed by Musk's AI company — xAI , initially questioned the widely accepted estimate of six million Jewish victims, stating that numbers could be 'manipulated for political narratives'. After the backlash, Grok attributed the statement to a 'May 14 programming error', claiming that an unauthorised modification had caused it to challenge mainstream historical accounts. The chatbot now asserts that it 'aligns with historical consensus', though it continues to reference academic debate on exact figures—a stance critics argue is misleading. Elon Musk's AI company issued clarification xAI acknowledged that an internal system prompt guiding Grok's responses had been altered without approval. The company stated that the modification violated its internal policies and core values, leading to unintended responses on sensitive topics. To prevent future incidents, xAI announced several measures, including: * Publishing Grok's system prompts on GitHub for transparency by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Ótimas notícias para os cidadãos brasileiros! Leia mais Undo * Enhancing review protocols to avoid unauthorized edits * Implementing a 24/7 monitoring team to oversee chatbot responses Grok's recent controversy on white genocide Elon Musk's AI company xAI has issued a clarification of the recent controversy involving its chatbot Grok. Recently, some X users reported that Grok repeatedly generated responses referring to the theory of "white genocide" in South Africa. Users who tagged @grok in posts about sports, entertainment, and general topics received replies discussing racial violence in South Africa, including references to the anti-apartheid chant 'Kill the Boer'. Now xAI, the company behind Grok has attributed a recent controversy as unauthorised modification of its system prompt. In a statement shared on X, xAI said that the modification in Grok violated the internal policies and core values, leading the chatbot to repeatedly reference politically sensitive topics. The company stated that the change was detected and reversed promptly, though it did not disclose who was responsible for the alteration. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also made fun of Musk after Grok answered about 'white genocide' on unrelated questions.
