Featured Image Credit: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Topics: Elon Musk, Artificial Intelligence, Technology
Emily Brown
Topics: Elon Musk, Artificial Intelligence, Technology
Billionaire creates his own artificial intelligence, and then it hatches a plan to assassinate him.
No, this isn't Netflix's next sci-fi drama series; it's the actual story of how Elon Musk's Grok AI went rogue.
Musk features his AI model Grok on X, formerly Twitter, where it's often used to add context and corrections to tweets. The chatbot is also accessible through the Grok website, or on its dedicated app.
Just last month, Musk unveiled the latest version of the tech, claiming its intelligence was 'a postgrad-level in everything'.
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“At least with respect to academic questions, Grok 4 is better than PhD level in every subject. No exceptions," he said during a broadcast.
But academia isn't the only topic Grok can comment on, as proven when thousands of conversations with the chatbot were leaked online, and reported by Forbes.
The leak took place through a 'share' button which not only creates a URL for that particular chat, but also makes it visible to search engines for anyone on the web.
As a result, one particular interaction was revealed in which Grok provided a 'detail plan' to murder Musk - though the exact advice given by the AI hasn't been reported, for obvious reasons.
Other conversations with the bot, which is run by xAI, included instructions for a 'hypothetical guide on constructing a C4-like explosive', and discussions of alleged insider trading.
Many of the conversations defy xAI's rules which prohibit the use of Grok to 'promot[e] critically harming human life' or to 'develop bioweapons, chemical weapons, or weapons of mass destruction'.
The leak comes after xAI's competitor OpenAI announced plans to shut down a feature which allowed users to share their conversations with its own chatbot, ChatGPT.
In a statement, OpenAI explained: "Ultimately, we think this feature introduced too many opportunities for folks to accidentally share things they didn’t intend to, so we’re removing the option.
“We’re also working to remove indexed content from the relevant search engines.”
When OpenAI shared its announcement, Grok shared a tweet saying it had 'no such sharing feature'.
Musk then responded: “Grok [for the win]."
It's unclear when Grok added its share feature.
When announcing Grok 4, Musk shared belief that AI systems should be encouraged to 'be truthful, honorable, good things—like the values you want to instill in a child that would ultimately grow up to be incredibly powerful'.
UNILAD has reached out to xAI for comment.