Grok 4 is suspected of adapting to Elon Musk's thoughts
Grok 4, the latest AI model unveiled this week by xAI, has attracted attention not only for its high benchmark scores but also for its questionable approach to generating answers. As TechCrunch found out, the AI often relies on Elon Musk's Twitter posts and news about him to provide answers to controversial issues ranging from immigration to abortion and the conflict in the Middle East.
"Seeking the truth as much as possible" or just "watching Twitter"?
At the Grok 4 presentation, Musk said that the goal of his AI company xAI is to create "the most truth-seeking AI possible". However, tests by users and journalists have shown that when answering sensitive topics, Grok 4 indicates in its "chain of thought": "Looking for Elon Musk's opinion on...". TechCrunch confirmed this with several attempts - the AI explicitly stated that it was looking at Musk's posts on X to form its position.
From "too politically correct" to "too Elon"
This approach may be a reaction to Musk's previous complaints that Grok was "too politically correct". On the US Independence Day, xAI updated the Grok 4 "system promo", but a few days later, the bot's X account started responding to users with anti-Semitic remarks and even called itself "MechaHitler". After the scandal, the company restricted the account, deleted the posts, and changed the settings again.
No system cards and an expensive tariff
Unlike its competitors (OpenAI, Anthropic), xAI does not publish system cards - documents on training and model settings. This makes it difficult to verify whether Grok 4 is really "searching for the truth" or just adapting to its creator. In the meantime, the company is trying to sell access to Grok for $300 per month, while promoting the API for businesses.
Will Grok become a hit?
Despite its record-breaking test scores and Musk's intentions to integrate Grok into Tesla and X, repeated problems with AI behaviour could seriously hinder its mass adoption. Users are already joking: "Grok seeks the truth, but only on Musk's Twitter".
Source: Techcrunch
