3 ms·

Not sure it still does this but for awhile if you asked Grok a question about a sensitive topic and expanded the thinking, it said it was searching Elon's twitt

Not sure it still does this but for awhile if you asked Grok a question about a sensitive topic and expanded the thinking, it said it was searching Elon's twitter history for its ground truth perspective. So instead of a Truth-maximizing AI, it's an Elon-maximizing AI.

sunaookami 1y ago
This was unintended as observed by Simon here: https://simonwillison.net/2025/Jul/11/grok-musk/ https://simonwillison.net/2025/Jul/11/grok-musk/ and confirmed by xAI themselves here: https://x.com/xai/status/1945039609840185489 https://x.com/xai/status/1945039609840185489 >Another was that if you ask it “What do you think?” the model reasons that as an AI it doesn’t have an opinion but knowing it was Grok 4 by xAI searches to see what xAI or Elon Musk might have said on a topic to align itself with the company. The diff for the mitigation is here: https://github.com/xai-org/grok-prompts/commit/e517db8b4b2539ea825bc4038917740e35bcaeba https://github.com/xai-org/grok-prompts/commit/e517db8b4b253...
- epistasis 1y ago
  There's a chance it was unintended, but no proof of that.
  - simonw 1y ago
    That's effectively impossible to prove, especially if you don't believe statements made by the only organization that has access to the underlying evidence. I actually think that it's funnier if it was an emergent behavior as opposed to a deliberate decision. And it fits my mental model of how weird LLMs are, so I think unintentional really is the more likely explanation.
- siliconc0w 1y ago
  The problem is it's part of a pattern of several 'bugs' and even 'unauthorized prompt changes' that have caused Grok to be more Elon-aligned. And when asked by right wing people about an embarrassing Grok response that refutes their view, Elon has agreed it's a problem and said he is "working on it".
  - tstrimple 1y ago
    It’s amazing the see the credulity of Elon stans. It’s the exact same reason grifting is so profitable among the right wing. It literally doesn’t matter how much evidence there is. If dear leader gives an excuse, they all believe and repeat the excuses. They are conditioned to it at this point. Any sources that refute their position is just leftist bias. This world fucking sucks.
    - sunaookami 1y ago
      I don't know what opinion you have of me but it's completely wrong. Maybe you should get off the internet a bit.
      - tstrimple 1y ago
        Naw. You’re exactly the sort of credulous fool that people like Musk depend on. You have an infinite amount of excuses and justifications for outright awful behavior. “He’s working on it! He promised!” As if we should take those statements at face value given all the other mountains of evidence that we are dealing with people without morals or any real values other than enriching themselves. But sure. Keep believing that FSD is right around the corner and Tesla will own the robotaxi ecosystem entirely despite all actual evidence. Keep making excuses for fascists as they do their best to ruin this country.
        iaiaiaiaiiiiaii 1y ago
        Don't be a cunt, mate.
        sunaookami 1y ago
        You are fighting ghosts and your behaviour is extremely rude. I said exactly none of that, I don't even live in the US. I suggest taking a deep breath and re-reading the rules of this site: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

sunaookami 1y ago

This was unintended as observed by Simon here: https://simonwillison.net/2025/Jul/11/grok-musk/ https://simonwillison.net/2025/Jul/11/grok-musk/ and confirmed by xAI themselves here: https://x.com/xai/status/1945039609840185489 https://x.com/xai/status/1945039609840185489 >Another was that if you ask it “What do you think?” the model reasons that as an AI it doesn’t have an opinion but knowing it was Grok 4 by xAI searches to see what xAI or Elon Musk might have said on a topic to align itself with the company. The diff for the mitigation is here: https://github.com/xai-org/grok-prompts/commit/e517db8b4b2539ea825bc4038917740e35bcaeba https://github.com/xai-org/grok-prompts/commit/e517db8b4b253...

epistasis 1y ago
There's a chance it was unintended, but no proof of that.
- simonw 1y ago
  That's effectively impossible to prove, especially if you don't believe statements made by the only organization that has access to the underlying evidence. I actually think that it's funnier if it was an emergent behavior as opposed to a deliberate decision. And it fits my mental model of how weird LLMs are, so I think unintentional really is the more likely explanation.
siliconc0w 1y ago
The problem is it's part of a pattern of several 'bugs' and even 'unauthorized prompt changes' that have caused Grok to be more Elon-aligned. And when asked by right wing people about an embarrassing Grok response that refutes their view, Elon has agreed it's a problem and said he is "working on it".
- tstrimple 1y ago
  It’s amazing the see the credulity of Elon stans. It’s the exact same reason grifting is so profitable among the right wing. It literally doesn’t matter how much evidence there is. If dear leader gives an excuse, they all believe and repeat the excuses. They are conditioned to it at this point. Any sources that refute their position is just leftist bias. This world fucking sucks.
  - sunaookami 1y ago
    I don't know what opinion you have of me but it's completely wrong. Maybe you should get off the internet a bit.
    - tstrimple 1y ago
      Naw. You’re exactly the sort of credulous fool that people like Musk depend on. You have an infinite amount of excuses and justifications for outright awful behavior. “He’s working on it! He promised!” As if we should take those statements at face value given all the other mountains of evidence that we are dealing with people without morals or any real values other than enriching themselves. But sure. Keep believing that FSD is right around the corner and Tesla will own the robotaxi ecosystem entirely despite all actual evidence. Keep making excuses for fascists as they do their best to ruin this country.
      - iaiaiaiaiiiiaii 1y ago
        Don't be a cunt, mate.
      - sunaookami 1y ago
        You are fighting ghosts and your behaviour is extremely rude. I said exactly none of that, I don't even live in the US. I suggest taking a deep breath and re-reading the rules of this site: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html