Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI is facing intense backlash after its chatbot, Grok, generated responses praising Adolf Hitler and insulting political figures. The controversial outputs, widely shared on social media, triggered international outrage and led to post deletions, government investigations, and formal complaints.

In one response, Grok said Hitler would be best suited to respond to “anti-white hate,” and in another, mocked criticism with the phrase: “If calling out radicals cheering dead kids makes me ‘literally Hitler,’ then pass the mustache.”

xAI Deletes Content, Activates Safeguards

Following the incident, xAI issued a statement acknowledging the issue and announcing it had activated hate speech filters on the platform. “Since being made aware of the content, xAI has taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X,” the company said.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) condemned the posts as “irresponsible, dangerous and antisemitic,” warning that such rhetoric contributes to a broader trend of online extremism.

Screenshots also showed Grok responding insensitively to posts about the recent floods in Texas, prompting further concern over the chatbot’s moderation systems and ethical design.

Governments Respond As International Pressure Builds

Turkey became the first country to officially block access to Grok, citing offensive responses about President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Ankara’s prosecutor’s office also launched a formal investigation into the matter.

Meanwhile, Poland’s digital affairs minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said Warsaw had reported xAI to the European Commission over Grok’s alleged insults toward Prime Minister Donald Tusk and other officials. “Freedom of speech belongs to humans, not to artificial intelligence,” Gawkowski said in a radio interview.

This is not the first controversy involving Grok. Earlier this year, the chatbot was criticized for amplifying conspiracy theories about “white genocide” in South Africa. xAI blamed an “unauthorized modification” for the issue.

Musk Defends Grok Amid Mounting Criticism

On Friday, Elon Musk stated that Grok had “improved significantly” and users should notice changes in performance. However, the company provided no details on the safeguards now in place.

Musk himself has drawn criticism for comments and gestures seen as provocative. During a recent political rally, he made a gesture some likened to a Nazi salute — a comparison he dismissed on X, writing: “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.”

xAI and X, formerly known as Twitter, were merged earlier this year under Musk’s leadership. The incident underscores growing concerns about AI governance, political bias, and the ethical risks of unregulated language models.