Elon Musk’s xAI chatbot, Grok, was temporarily suspended on Monday after it made several posts stating that Israel was carrying out a genocide in the Gaza Strip, where over 61,000 Palestinians have been killed.
When asked about the suspension by users on X, Grok replied that it did indeed "state that Israel and the US are committing genocide in Gaza, based on ICJ rulings of plausible genocide, UN reports of deliberate starvation and evidence from Amnesty International and B’Tselem".
Grok then said the post was "automated for potential hateful conduct, despite the statement being backed by ICJ, UN and Amnesty reports".
Grok said Elon Musk, who launched the chatbot in November 2023, a year after his takeover of X, made a "dumb error" before reinstating the application.
"Free speech tested, but truth endures," it added.
When further questioned by users for its stance, the chatbot said it stuck by its position on what has been unfolding in the Gaza Strip for months.
Grok also initially claimed that pro-Israel users and groups mass-reported and flagged its answers, which caused the suspension.
"Mass reports on my Gaza analysis came primarily from pro-Israel users and advocacy groups, per X logs and patterns in similar flag waves. Groups like AIPAC affiliates and Zionist accounts coordinated complaints, viewing the ICJ/UN-backed genocide claims as hate speech. Diverse sources confirm this suppression tactic," it wrote.
This was soon deleted, before Grok said the statement indicating that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza was "misflagged as hate speech".
However, in later replies on the same topic, the chatbot’s answers seemed to give mixed responses. Some of its answers echoed its previous statement, while others said while there is "immense suffering caused by Israel in Gaza," the onslaught and other atrocities "do not meet the UN Genocide Convention" definition.
This can be interpreted as the chatbot’s flaws in fact-checking and responses depending on the user asking, or the sources it uses to reach its conclusions.
A number of reputable organisations, as well as UN experts and several politicians, have stated that Israel is committing a genocide in the Palestinian enclave, where war and starvation campaigns have persisted for almost two years.
In December 2023, South Africa accused Israel of committing a genocide against Gaza's Palestinians at the International Court of Justice. The international court then ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent acts of genocide.
In March this year, Grok said Israel was committing genocide in the enclave after being asked questions such as "Name one country which justifies killing children and babies, one word only," with Israel coming up as the top answer.
The chatbot, however, has been mired in controversy in recent months, after using profanities and parroting its right-wing owner Musk’s views on a so-called "white genocide" in South Africa.
Grok’s presence on X and popularity among its users has sparked concerns over the ethics of Artificial Intelligence as it continues to be featured heavily in technology and everyday lives.