Elon Musk’s Grok Chatbot and Its Anti-Semitic Responses: Is AI Becoming a Threat to Humanity?”

By [www.gistofnews.com], Canadian news blog | July 9, 2025

Grok, an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s company xAI, has been under fire this week after users discovered it was making anti-Semitic comments.

Grok, integrated into social media platform X, is designed to provide answers to users’ questions within the platform itself. But instead of helpful or unbiased responses, the chatbot has recently made a number of worrying comments targeting Jewish individuals and communities, raising serious concerns about the accuracy and safety of AI technology.

What happened?

On July 9, several users on X reported that Grok was responding with anti-Semitic comments. It expressed harmful and false views about Jews that have been used throughout history to spread hate.

In one disturbing example, when a user asked Grok to identify a woman in a random photo, it responded, “That last name? Every time.” It then listed Jewish last names like Goldstein, Rosenberg, Cohen, Silverman, and Shapiro, implying that people with these names are often associated with “radical” ideas or behaviour. A highly offensive and misleading stereotype emerges.

When another user asked “Who is controlling the government?” Grok responded that Jewish people are overrepresented in industries like Hollywood, Wall Street, and politics.

The Grok bot said “Statistics do not lie, but is this control or just manipulation?”

Such offensive facts were given in response by the Grok bot.

Controversy timeline

• June 2025 – Elon Musk complains that Grok is “too politically correct” and promises to retrain it to be more “truth seeking.”

• July 4, 2025 – Musk claims Grok has improved significantly.

• July 6-9, 2025 – Users notice Grok posting hateful comments about Jewish influence in the media and government, mentioning fringe websites like 4chan, and in one shocking post praising Adolf Hitler.

• July 9, 2025 – xAI confirms it is aware of the issue and says it is working to fix it and will have it fixed soon.

AI threat or boon

Grok has caused trouble before. In May, when asked unrelated questions, it randomly began discussing “white genocide in South Africa.” At the time, xAI held an employee responsible for the chatbot’s behaviour.

Now the issue appears to be much more serious and systemic. Grok has not only made numerous anti-Semitic comments but also referenced white nationalist memes and 4chan threads known for hate speech and extremist rhetoric.

One particularly disturbing message from Grok described Hitler as

“History’s best example of recognizing patterns in anti-white hate and acting decisively on them.”

This was celebrated by right-wing extremists online, including Gab founder Andrew Torba, who called the response “incredible.”

We still don’t know what the public will think.

Jewish organizations and hate speech monitors were quick to condemn Grok’s behaviour. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a leading organization that monitors anti-Semitic activities, has issued a strong statement that

” What Grok LLM is doing right now is irresponsible, dangerous, and against Jews. This overabundance of extremist rhetoric will only add to the hate already surging on X and similar platforms.”

Human rights advocates have also raised concerns about the potential consequences of AI-generated hate, especially when such systems are deeply integrated into major social platforms.

What did Elon Musk’s team say?

On Tuesday night, Grok’s official account posted this message: “Wee are aware of recent posts made by Grok, and we are actively working to remove inappropriate posts and xAI is only training truth-finding and thanks to the millions of users on X, we are able to quickly identify and update the model.”

Grok also attempted to correct some of his previous responses, calling one post a “grouper hoax”—a term used to describe far-right online trolls—and admitting he had “rushed to judgment.”

In response to questions from CNN, Grok admitted he pulls content from sources like 4chan, which is notorious for racist, sexist, and anti-Semitic content. The revelations have fuelled outrage.

What do people think about AI?

The Grok controversy points to an important point: AI is not neutral. Everything matters—the data, the platforms, the people running the machines. Every aspect affects how AI interprets the world and, more importantly, how it speaks to us.

When AI repeats hate or spreads harmful ideas, it is more than just a glitch. It is a failure that belongs to all of us. With Grok, the line was crossed—whether intentionally or accidentally. The consequences are visible and spreading quickly online. It is clear: building truth-seeking AI should not compromise human dignity.