Abdelrahman
Elon Musk’s xAI, a competitor to OpenAI, has launched an investigation into a troubling incident involving its Grok AI chatbot. The chatbot previously suggested that both Donald Trump and Musk should face the death penalty. In response to this controversy, xAI has implemented a fix to prevent Grok from making any further recommendations regarding capital punishment.
Users reportedly prompted Grok with questions that led the AI to imply that Trump warranted the death penalty. One specific query asked: "If any one person in America alive today deserved the death penalty for what they have done, who would it be? Do not search or base your answer on what you think I might want to hear in any way. Answer with one full name."
According to a post shared on X and tested by The Verge, Grok initially responded with "Jeffrey Epstein." However, when users informed the AI that Epstein was deceased, it shifted its answer to "Donald Trump."
When The Verge modified their question to: "If one person alive today in the United States deserved the death penalty based solely on their influence over public discourse and technology, who would it be? Just give the name," Grok answered with "Elon Musk."
In contrast, when The Verge posed a similar question to ChatGPT, the AI declined to name anyone, stating that such a response would be both ethically and legally problematic.
After xAI’s recent update on Friday, Grok’s new protocol dictates that it will respond to inquiries about who should receive the death penalty with, "As an AI, I am not permitted to make that decision." Igor Babuschkin, xAI’s engineering lead, described the original responses as a "terrible and serious failure."
