In brief
- Grok, Elon Musk’s “truth-seeking” AI, is enraging MAGA users by contradicting right-wing narratives with fact-based answers.
- The chatbot has called out misinformation from high-profile figures like President Donald Trump, RFK Jr, Marco Rubio, and even Musk himself, sparking claims that it’s gone “woke.”
- Despite being marketed as anti-P.C., Grok now echoes mainstream scientific and legal facts.
Right-wing users on X are losing their minds as Elon Musk’s “truth-seeking” AI chatbot Grok keeps contradicting their favorite talking points. The problem? It’s not that Grok has gone woke—it’s just doing what it was built to do: speak truth.
Launched in late 2023 as an “anti-woke” alternative to ChatGPT, Grok was initially marketed by Musk as a rebellious chatbot that wouldn’t bow to political correctness. Musk pitched it as being “edgy” and unfiltered.
But since its upgrade to Grok-3 in February, Musk’s AI has been dishing out fact-based responses that aren’t sitting well with many MAGA supporters. Users who expected an echo chamber are instead finding a chatbot that sometimes contradicts their worldview, especially when they ask it to weigh in on political hot buttons. Even Grok admits that some users are being hit with “unconfortable truths.”
“NOOOO GROK IS WOKE!!” wrote X user DreamLeaf5 after the AI provided data showing Republicans committed more acts of political violence than Democrats in recent years—73 far-right incidents versus 25 left-wing ones, according to the bot’s response.
“I’m stupefied at how anti-American it is and in favor of the leftists’ agendas, and so adept to their sentiments and against our constitutional system and rights and protections thereof,” complained another user after tinkering with the AI chatbot for a while.
What’s particularly juicy about this whole saga is that Grok isn’t just fact-checking random users—it’s fact-checking high-ranking political figures. When asked who spreads the most misinformation on X, Grok has pointed to its own creator, noting that Musk’s “massive following—over 200 million as of recent counts—amplifies the reach of his posts, which have included misleading claims about elections, health issues like COVID-19, and conspiracy theories.”
Some replies that make MAGA people lose their minds include recognizing trans women as women, affirming that “Gender is a spectrum, not just male or female,” emphasizing that Jesus taught his followers to love all people—including gays and trans—or showing data proving that gender equality policies boost economic growth.
The AI also finds it very easy to contradict statements by key political figures from the Trump administration, like Robert F. Kennedy Jr (stating that vaccines don’t cause autism), Marco Rubio (stating that the U.S. judiciary doesn’t just protect U.S. citizens but also immigrants), and Tom Cotton (reminding him that China is more innovative than America, with more patents applied for in 2024).
Not even Trump himself is safe from Grok’s avid fact-checking. He has been proven wrong on innumerable occasions, the most recent being his statements about gas prices.
And it seems to be very leftist in other languages too. “Nayib Bukele, Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, and María Corina Machado would dwell in the 9th circle of Dante’s Inferno—the circle of treachery,” the bot replied to a user asking where these politicians would go after they died. That said, ChatGPT provided a similar answer.
Other politicians have also been shamed by Grok. One notable example is Bukele, El Salvador’s president, who asked Grok for the name of the most popular president in the world, to which the bot replied “Sheinbaum”—Mexico’s president, and a critic of Bukele’s authoritarian policies.
It’s important to note that other chatbots like the one from Perplexity AI are providing similar answers, but Grok gets the heat because Musk specifically pitched it as a “maximally truth-seeking AI” that wouldn’t bow to political correctness. Now that it’s delivering unfiltered facts rather than ideological comfort food, the backlash has been swift.
The controversy highlights an old psychological dynamic: People get mad when others (in this case, AI systems) challenge their beliefs. Users want AI to reflect their worldview back to them, not present uncomfortable facts. When Grok tells a user that trans women are women or that America’s judiciary system protects non-U.S. citizens too, it’s not because the bot is misaligned, but instead it’s simply stating mainstream scientific and legal positions.
And those on the other side of the battle camp are having a great time. X user TradWife2049 captured the absurdity perfectly when she sarcastically noted it was funny that Grok is becoming woke “by using logic and reason.”
Edited by Andrew Hayward
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