Elon Musk’s new AI-powered encyclopedia, Grokipedia, is being slammed by critics for containing significant falsehoods and political propaganda. The platform, which uses Musk’s “Grok” AI as its sole “fact-checker,” is already promoting inaccurate and biased information.
Among the most glaring errors identified by journalists is a claim that pornography exacerbated the Aids epidemic, a assertion lacking scientific basis. This error highlights the unreliability of an AI-only system for verifying complex information.
In addition to factual inaccuracies, the encyclopedia pushes a strong right-wing political bias. The Grokipedia entry for the January 6 Capitol insurrection promotes the debunked lie of “widespread claims of voting irregularities” in the 2020 election.
The entry minimizes the severity of the attack, suggesting it could be seen as a “legitimate expression of grievances” against “perceived electoral flaws.” This narrative closely follows talking points used by Donald Trump and his allies.
Musk has launched Grokipedia as a rival to Wikipedia, which he frequently attacks for citing “mainstream media.” The project, suggested by Trump’s former AI czar David Sacks, appears to be Musk’s latest tool to create a conservative information bubble.