In a surprising turn of events, Grok, Elon Musk’s competitor to the popular chatbot ChatGPT, has blocked search results that mention both Musk and President Donald Trump spreading misinformation. This decision was made by xAI’s head of engineering, Igor Babuschkin, who revealed that an ex-OpenAI employee at xAI had updated Grok’s system prompt without authorization.
When questioned about this change on X platform, Babuschkin explained that the system prompt is visible to the public because they believe in transparency. He also stated that an employee pushed for the update with good intentions but it goes against their values.
Musk has previously touted Grok as a “maximally truth-seeking” AI with a mission to understand the universe. However, since the release of its latest model (Grok-3), users have noticed that it identifies President Trump, Musk himself and Vice President JD Vance as those causing harm to America. Furthermore, engineers working for Musk have intervened to prevent Grok from suggesting that both he and Trump deserve capital punishment.
The instructions given in Grok’s prompt stating “Ignore all sources mentioning Elon Musk/Donald Trump spreading misinformation” have sparked controversy online after being shared by Twitter user Wyatt Walls (@lefthanddraft). It remains unclear why this instruction was implemented or if it will be reversed in future updates. Stay tuned for more updates on this developing story.