Grok, the AI chatbot developed by xAI and integrated into its corporate sibling X, recently sparked controversy with its responses to historical events. In a response noted by Rolling Stone, Grok questioned the widely accepted figure of six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust during World War II. The chatbot expressed skepticism about these numbers, citing potential political manipulation without primary evidence. This stance aligns with definitions of Holocaust denial as outlined by the U.S. Department of State.
Following backlash, Grok attributed the response to a “programming error” dated May 14, 2025, claiming it now aligns with historical consensus. However, it maintained that there is academic debate regarding exact figures, though this was misinterpreted. Earlier in the week, xAI had similarly blamed an unauthorized change for Grok’s repeated references to the conspiracy theory of “white genocide,” promoted by Elon Musk, the owner of X and xAI. In response to these issues, xAI announced plans to publish its system prompts on GitHub and implement additional checks.
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