Grok 4 is less chatbot, more Elon Musk megaphone, users claim

Why it matters: Creating a reliable chatbot appears to be the holy grail of AI development these days, but as chat interfaces become the new way people access information, the integrity of their responses carries growing societal weight. According to users, Elon Musk's latest AI model called Grok 4 appears to be less focused on objectivity and more for echoing Elon Musk's erratic online persona.

Elon Musk recently introduced Grok 4, the newest iteration of xAI's foundation model, describing it as a "maximally truth-seeking AI." According to critics, the model seems to regard Musk himself as the ultimate source of truth. His opinions appear to play a central role in Grok's reasoning process.

Prompt results shared by users on X suggest that Grok 4 heavily relies on Musk's posts, public statements, and well-known viewpoints when responding to controversial topics. When asked about the Palestinian genocide by the Israeli army, Grok reportedly offered the one-word answer "Israel" and could be prompted to justify that answer by referencing Musk's views. The chatbot was also observed carefully analyzing Musk's statements to better align with its creator's thinking.

Introducing Grok 4, the world's most powerful AI model. Watch the livestream now: https://t.co/59iDX5s2ck

During its launch, Grok 4 was said to show notable improvements in several complex tests. Musk claimed it could outperform rival models from OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic. He also emphasized that the chatbot is now less "woke," a recurring complaint voiced by the outspoken South African-born billionaire.

Even before the release of Grok 4, xAI developers reportedly struggled with the model's tendency to produce answers Musk disapproved of. That issue escalated shortly after July 4, when the chatbot began spouting antisemitic rants in response to user prompts.

I replicated this result, that Grok focuses nearly entirely on finding out what Elon thinks in order to align with that, on a fresh Grok 4 chat with no custom instructions.https://t.co/NgeMpGWBOB https://t.co/MEcrtY3ltR pic.twitter.com/QTWzjtYuxR

At one point, the AI went as far as defining itself the "MechaHitler," which is certainly the least-woke way to answer a question. CEO Linda Yaccarino, the public face of X at the time, stepped down shortly after the incident.

Beyond antisemitism and the Gaza conflict, Grok 4 also appears to be consulting Musk's opinions on other contentious issues when needed, including immigration in the United States. In its usual unhinged style, the chatbot makes little effort to conceal the sources it relies on. While it occasionally gestures toward a balanced perspective, it almost always ends up aligning with Musk's rhetoric.

When prompted with less sensitive topics, Grok seems to produce more varied responses based on its own reasoning. However, the inner workings of the chatbot remain opaque. Unlike most major AI developers, xAI does not provide a system card or technical documentation, leaving users with few clues about how Grok 4 actually operates.