Grokipedia Is Racist, Transphobic, And Loves Elon Musk

On Monday, a caller online “encyclopedia” sputtered to life. Grokipedia is nan brainchild of Elon Musk and his startup xAI, and nan billionaire is promoting it arsenic a supposedly little woke and little biased type of Wikipedia. Musk’s goal? “The truth, nan full truth and thing but nan truth.”

In some format and style, Grokipedia bears a striking resemblance to Wikipedia, albeit a very basal version. Entries are organized pinch headings, subheadings, citations, and a database of sources astatine nan end. Each article besides claims to person been fact-checked by Grok, xAI’s AI chatbot, though it’s not clear what this “fact-checking” involves. Also unclear is really nan 885,279 entries, arsenic presently listed connected Grokipedia’s homepage, are created and by what aliases whom.

Much of nan contented connected Grokipedia is besides suspiciously akin to Wikipedia. In galore cases, articles are practically — and sometimes literally — clones of their Wikipedia counterparts. But for entries tackling topics that jar pinch Musk’s individual worldview, galore articles return connected a remarkably different tone. Here, Grokipedia abruptly veers into right-wing talking points, actual inaccuracies, critiques of mainstream media, and unfounded conspiracy theories. At times, Grokipedia is overtly racist and transphobic. Musk comes disconnected alright, though. He and his businesses are often painted successful a rosy light.

A shape plays retired for different entries covering firmly settled science. On nan Vaccines and autism page, Wikipedia states that “extensive investigation into vaccines and autism spectrum upset has shown that location is nary narration betwixt nan two, causal aliases otherwise, and that vaccine ingredients do not origin autism” and notes nan overwhelming “consensus that vaccines are safe” from scientists and aesculapian bodies for illustration nan WHO, CDC, and FDA. Grokipedia is much circumspect. Its introduction only rejects nan thought that MMR vaccines origin autism, it lends credence to alleged vaccine-skeptical views by calling nan thought a “hypothesis,” and nan sole mention of technological statement is to opportunity really a caller CDC statement signals “sustained argumentation momentum contempt guidance from mainstream technological statement bodies.” For covid origins, Grokipedia again fails to admit statement and amplifies suggestions nan microorganism was engineered, while Wikipedia many times describes allegations of genome engineering arsenic “misinformation aliases misrepresentations of technological evidence.”

Similarly, Grokipedia’s introduction connected ambiance alteration is different motion that Musk mightiness inhabit a world pinch a much fungible conception of reality. As The Verge’s Jay Peters notes, Grokipedia glosses complete what Wikipedia says is simply a “nearly unanimous technological statement that nan ambiance is warming and that this is caused by quality activities” to, instead, item “heightened nationalist alarm” caused by media and defense organizations for illustration Greenpeace.  

These technological Grokipedia entries publication for illustration twisted Wikipedia articles, but much governmental entries are a nastier departure. Grokipedia’s introduction for Transgender deploys nan word “transgenderism” aggregate times. Wikipedia, meanwhile, notes that nan word “has travel to beryllium viewed arsenic a pejorative.” 

Unlike nan Wikipedia introduction for Chelsea Manning, nan whistleblower and erstwhile US Army intelligence expert who shared concealed intelligence pinch WikiLeaks successful 2010, nan Grokipedia entry connected her life deadnames and misgenders her astatine length.  

As spotted connected Bluesky, Grokipedia’s introduction connected Race and intelligence claims that subject shows immoderate races are much intelligent than others — and moreover lists nan alleged IQ scores of different races. Wikipedia’s entry by nan aforesaid name, meanwhile, points retired that differences successful IQ scores can’t beryllium explained by genetics. (Grokipedia writes that “the grade to which genetics lend to between-group differences remains contentious.”) The argumentation conception of nan Grokipedia introduction besides cites nan pseudoscientific diary Mankind Quarterly, known for publishing “race science” and having ties to achromatic nationalism. 

While Wikipedia calls nan January 6th onslaught connected nan US Capitol an “attempted self-coup,” Grokipedia’s connection astir “widespread claims of voting irregularities” seemingly justifies nan riot by President Donald Trump supporters, and downplays nan unit by saying that “most” insurrectionists “carried nary firearms and nan incursion was cleared wrong hours.” Wikipedia readers will learn, instead, that Congress itself found nan riot to beryllium an unsuccessful, but purposeful, portion of Trump’s scheme to overturn nan election. 

Wikipedia describes George Floyd arsenic a Black man who was murdered by a achromatic constabulary serviceman successful an arena that group disconnected a activity of nationwide protests against constabulary brutality and racism. On Grokipedia, Floyd is champion known for his criminal record, starting pinch a condemnation that is difficult to publication arsenic thing different than intentionally racist: “George Perry Floyd Jr. (October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020) was an American man pinch a lengthy criminal grounds including convictions for equipped robbery, supplier possession, and theft successful Texas from 1997 to 2007.” Readers don’t study that Floyd was murdered until nan 4th condemnation of Grokipedia’s entry.

The Department of Government Efficiency, aliases DOGE, is notably absent from Grokipedia, which is overseas fixed that Elon Musk ran nan short-term quasi-government agency tasked by President Trump pinch supposedly eliminating discarded successful nan national government. (Grokipedia directs users to nan Shiba Inu internet meme instead.) Wikipedia readers tin study astir DOGE’s domiciled successful wide layoffs of national workers and dismantling long-standing national agencies, contempt DOGE’s ain unclear authorities authority.

At slightest 1 personification comes disconnected very well: Musk. Grokipedia entries connected him and his businesses consciousness for illustration an editor has taken an airbrush to Wikipedia articles. There’s nary mention of his father’s emerald interests successful his Grokipedia biography, for example, downplaying his family wealthiness arsenic “relative affluence.” Wikipedia, meanwhile, makes 3 mentions of emeralds, excluding citations, and describes his family arsenic “wealthy.” It besides references his grandfather having pro-Nazi and apartheid views, a item that is absent connected Grokipedia.  

His companies and their products fare amended connected Grokipedia. On nan whole, they’re importantly longer. The article connected Optimus, Tesla’s humanoid robot, is 4 times nan magnitude of its Wikipedia counterpart. Neuralink’s article is triple, and Tesla’s Cybertruck is almost double. The connection is much flattering, too. The introduction covering SpaceX makes nary mention of Musk’s grounded efforts to get exertion from Russia and paints its biology problems successful a overmuch much favorable ray than Wikipedia. Grokipedia’s Cybertruck page hardly mentions nan litany of information issues aliases recalls, alternatively criticizing nan media for being biased against Tesla and focusing connected outlier complaints, while nan Optimus page pays acold little attraction to disapproval complete Musk’s outlandish predictions, timelines, and hype.