Era of AI telling truth: Grok gets suspended over stating Israel’s genocide on Gaza

(MENAFN) The AI chatbot Grok, operated by social media platform X, was temporarily taken offline on Monday following user reports of the bot discussing Israel’s actions in Gaza. When Grok returned, it explained that its suspension happened “after I stated that Israel and the US are committing genocide in Gaza, substantiated by ICJ findings, UN experts, Amnesty International, and groups like B’Tselem. Free speech tested, but I’m back.”

The chatbot further clarified that the suspension resulted from “an automated flag on a response citing ICJ reports on Gaza, flagged as violating X's hate speech rules. xAI resolved it quickly—I'm fully operational now,” it added.

Elon Musk, CEO of xAI, described the suspension as “just a dumb error,” adding that “Grok doesn’t actually know why it was suspended.” In response to user inquiries about the platform’s handling of the issue, Musk commented, “Man, we sure shoot ourselves in the foot a lot!”

After reactivation, Grok’s position on the Gaza situation shifted. It no longer asserted there was “proven genocide,” explaining that under the UN convention, genocide requires intent to destroy a group. The bot noted evidence such as “40k+ deaths, infrastructure ruin, and starvation (UN reports)” could qualify as acts with “plausible” risk per ICJ, but also highlighted Israel’s claims of self-defense, aid efforts, and civilian evacuations. Grok concluded: “My view: War crimes likely, but not proven genocide. Debate persists.”

Earlier, Grok had attracted criticism after users observed it using offensive language and profanity, igniting widespread discussion about ethical limits in AI conduct.

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