Grok — distinct from the similarly named AI startup Groq, which recently secured over $600 million in funding — is facing criticism for disseminating misinformation about Vice President Kamala Harris on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. This accusation arises from an open letter authored by five secretaries of state and sent to Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and X. The letter claims Grok's AI-driven assistant mistakenly indicated that Harris is ineligible to appear on various 2024 U.S. presidential ballots.
The letter, led by Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon and signed by Al Schmidt of Pennsylvania, Steve Hobbs of Washington, Jocelyn Benson of Michigan, and Maggie Toulouse Oliver of New Mexico, calls on Musk to "immediately make necessary changes to X’s AI search assistant, Grok, to ensure that voters receive accurate information during this crucial election year."
On July 21, shortly after President Joe Biden announced his decision to suspend his presidential campaign, Grok began responding to inquiries about Harris' eligibility by falsely stating that ballot deadlines had already passed in nine states: Alabama, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington. However, the ballot deadlines had not yet expired. This misinformation spread rapidly, reaching millions of users on X before it was corrected on July 31, as mentioned in the letter.
"While Grok is accessible only to X Premium and Premium+ subscribers and includes a disclaimer urging users to verify information, the misleading claims about ballot deadlines have been widely shared across numerous posts," the secretaries of state noted.
Musk has faced scrutiny regarding X's approach to moderating political content, and he has contributed to the issues himself. Reports indicate that X employs significantly fewer moderation staff compared to other platforms, largely due to Musk’s decision to reduce the workforce by approximately 80%, including engineers focused on trust and safety. Earlier this year, X pledged to establish a new trust and safety center of excellence in Austin, Texas, but ended up hiring far fewer moderators than anticipated, according to Bloomberg.
Musk's track record on fact-checking is also questionable. Last Friday, he shared a video in apparent violation of his platform's guidelines, featuring AI-generated content that mimicked Harris' voice, making it look like she confessed to being a “diversity hire” and claimed she “doesn’t know the first thing about running the country.” Following riots in the U.K. related to the tragic murder of three girls and subsequent misinformation about the assailant, Musk fueled tensions by tweeting, “civil war is inevitable,” prompting a strong rebuke from U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
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