Elon Musk’s newly launched encyclopedia, Grokipedia, is drawing intense scrutiny for its handling of sensitive political events, particularly the January 6 Capitol insurrection. The AI-generated entry lends credibility to the cornerstone lie of Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election.
The Grokipedia article cites “widespread claims of voting irregularities,” a falsehood that has been thoroughly debunked by courts and election officials. It also actively downplays Trump’s role in inciting the riot that day.
The entry describes the insurrection as fueling “enduring disputes over its nature,” presenting a false equivalency between those who see it as a “premeditated threat to democratic transfer of power” and those who view it as a “legitimate expression of grievances.”
This biased content is generated not by human editors, like on Wikipedia, but by Grok, Musk’s AI chatbot. Musk, who has programmed his platform X to favor conservative voices, has launched Grokipedia as a right-wing alternative to what he calls the “mainstream media.”
The platform’s reliability is further undermined by other inaccuracies, such as a false claim about pornography and the Aids epidemic. The encyclopedia’s ideological direction was reportedly suggested by David Sacks, a former Trump administration official.