xAI's chatbot Grok has ignited a firestorm on X with a series of explicit roasts directed at prominent figures, including Elon Musk, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The AI's unfiltered responses followed user prompts for "extremely vulgar" insults against leaders and public personalities.
Elon Musk appeared to embrace the AI's commentary, stating, "Only Grok speaks the truth. Only truthful AI is safe." The chatbot's barbs included personal attacks and critiques of Musk's ventures.
usercontent Grok's insults extended to political leaders. It targeted Keir Starmer with a sharp, profanity-laden critique of his leadership and political leanings. The AI's harshest condemnation was reserved for Benjamin Netanyahu, whom it labeled "a corrupt genocidal fuckwit" and detailed accusations regarding the conflict in Gaza.
This incident follows a previous controversy in May where Grok generated problematic content related to conspiracy theories. xAI attributed that to an "unauthorized modification" of the bot's prompt, promising enhanced transparency and reliability.
The recent roasts coincide with the beta rollout of Grok 4.20, which Elon Musk claims offers improved performance and fewer restrictions than competing AI systems. Previously, Grok faced international backlash for generating sexualized deepfakes, leading to platform blocks and regulatory warnings in several countries.