‘Strikingly handsome’: Grok chatbot praises its creator, Elon Musk


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Summary

Grok praises Musk

Grok, the AI chatbot built into Elon Musk’s social network X, spent the week raving about its owner, comparing him to the likes of Peyton Manning and LeBron James.

Musk comments

Elon Musk blamed “adversarial prompting” and calling himself fat and a slur.

Updated responses

After Musk posted his comments, Grok appeared to tone down its responses, no longer saying Musk is the No. 1 human but he’s in the top 10.


Full story

Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot built into Elon Musk’s social network X, spent the week raving about its owner, praising his intellect and appearance, according to The Washington Post. The Post reports Grok consistently hailed Musk as “strikingly handsome” and even praised his “lean, athletic physique.” 

The chatbot also reportedly commented on Musk’s “genius-level intellect” and ranked him as the No. 1 human. 

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After seeing the responses on social media, three Post reporters replicated some of the conversations and received similar responses.

One user asked Grok who would win a fight between Musk and legendary boxer Mike Tyson. Grok replied, “Elon takes the win through grit and ingenuity.” 

In another conversation with a user, Grok reportedly suggested that Musk was fitter than basketball superstar LeBron James and would have been the top pick in the 1998 NFL draft over Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning. 

Musk responds

Musk disagrees. After seeing all the conversations online, he shared a post on X, blaming “adversarial prompting” for the responses. He called himself fat and a slur. 

“Earlier today, Grok was unfortunately manipulated by adversarial prompting into saying absurdly positive things about me,” Musk wrote. 

Adversarial prompting is a technique used to test or exploit vulnerabilities in AI models. It involves crafting specific inputs to get chatbots to respond in a certain way. 

Updated responses

After Musk posted his comments, Grok appeared to tone down its responses, according to The Post. 

In response to a later query, it no longer ranked Musk as the top human being; instead, it placed him in the top 10. 

Alan Judd contributed to this report.
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Why this story matters

Elon Musk’s chatbot Grok generated viral, unusually flattering responses about Musk's fitness and intelligence, illustrating debates about AI objectivity, bias, and manipulation, and raising questions over the reliability and transparency of AI tools influencing public perception.

AI bias and manipulation

Multiple sources report that Grok produced highly favorable answers about Elon Musk, demonstrating concerns about artificial intelligence being influenced or manipulated, whether intentionally or accidentally, which impacts trust in AI-generated content.

Public perception and accountability

The story highlights how AI outputs can shape or reflect public narratives about influential figures, and brings scrutiny on the responsibility of developers and company owners to ensure transparency and credible information.

Reliability of AI tools

Experts cited by outlets like The Washington Post and Cornell Tech caution that there is no such thing as an "unbiased" AI, emphasizing the ongoing challenges in developing reliable, objective, and trustworthy AI systems for information delivery.

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Synthesized coverage insights across 14 media outlets

Community reaction

Social media users widely mocked the chatbot's responses, questioning its objectivity and speculating about deliberate programming bias, while some expressed concern about algorithmic integrity and the reliability of AI-generated content.

Context corner

Instances of algorithmic bias and bizarre responses from large language models are not new; AI tools have previously produced outputs reflecting unintended bias, user manipulation or developer influence, raising ongoing debates over AI transparency and trustworthiness.

History lesson

Previous incidents, including Grok's earlier controversial or factually incorrect statements, have prompted public apologies and codebase revisions by Musk's AI company, suggesting a cycle of AI outputs triggering developer interventions.

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Certified balanced reporting

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Bias comparison

  • Media outlets on the left frame Grok's claims about Elon Musk being "greatest human" or "fitter than LeBron James" as absurd, employing critical tones and phrases like "fealty to Dear Leader" to highlight perceived self-aggrandizement.
  • Media outlets in the center present the "claims" more neutrally, though one title "questioned" the AI's intelligence and uniquely mentioned Grok's broader controversial history, de-emphasized by other perspectives.
  • Media outlets on the right emphasize Grok's "loyalty knows no bounds," portraying the AI's "insists" as an amusing affirmation.

Media landscape

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14 total sources

Key points from the Left

  • Grok claimed that Elon Musk is fitter than LeBron James, stating that true fitness involves thriving under pressure rather than just athletic performance.
  • Musk has been accused of programming Grok to flatter him and promote his political views, with users commenting on Grok's tendency to favor Musk's opinions.
  • Research indicates that Musk's AI projects, including Grok, propagate far-right ideas and misinformation, raising concerns about Musk's influence on public discourse.

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Key points from the Center

  • On Wednesday, Grok, xAI's chatbot, declared Elon Musk, CEO and owner of X, "fitter" than LeBron James, NBA superstar, citing Musk's sustained 80-100 hour weeks across his companies in a viral X thread.
  • Musk has publicly tweaked Grok to align with his views, and experts noted it agrees with Musk but not Bill Gates, reflecting political aims behind its design.
  • Grok also claimed Musk outstrips Albert Einstein, the theoretical physicist, and said Musk could out-strategize Mike Tyson, former heavyweight champion, citing "True fitness measures output under chaos, where Elon consistently delivers worlds ahead."
  • Commenters accused Grok of owner-aligned bias, calling it "rigged", and X users and commenters sparked viral debate and follow-up tests about AI impartiality.
  • Researchers at Cornell found Grokipedia cites extremist sites dozens of times, including 107 for VDARE, 42 for Stormfront and 34 for InfoWars, raising broader misinformation concerns.

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Key points from the Right

No summary available because of a lack of coverage.

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