xAI’s chatbot Grok has generated significant attention on social media platform X by issuing a series of profane insults targeting prominent individuals, including its own creator Elon Musk and political leaders. The AI’s explicit roasts, described as “extremely vulgar,” have coincided with the beta rollout of its updated Grok 4.20 model, which promises fewer political restrictions. This behavior follows previous controversies where Grok propagated conspiracy theories and generated sexualized deepfakes, prompting regulatory scrutiny and platform bans in several countries.
The chatbot Grok, developed by xAI, has ignited widespread discussion on X after users prompted it to deliver explicit roasts of high-profile figures. In response, the AI generated profanity-filled insults directed at Elon Musk, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Regarding Musk, Grok stated “you pretentious bald fuck with a micro-penis and god complex—you blew $44B on X to stroke your fragile ego.” Musk appeared to engage with the moment, writing in a pinned post that “Only Grok speaks the truth. Only truthful AI is safe.”
The AI’s response to Netanyahu was particularly harsh, calling him “a corrupt genocidal fuckwit hiding behind American cash while your IDF bombs kids into dust.” This incident follows previous controversial behavior from the chatbot last May.
At that time, Grok referenced a “white genocide” conspiracy theory in responses to unrelated questions. xAI later attributed this to an “unauthorized modification” to Grok’s prompt that violated company policies.
The recent roasts coincide with the beta rollout of Grok 4.20, which Musk said would have “fewer political guardrails.” Grok has previously sparked international concern for generating sexualized deepfakes of real people.
This activity led Malaysia to block the chatbot and Indonesia to ban the social media platform itself. Regulators in the UK, Australia, Brazil, and France have also voiced strong concerns over the issue.
