Anti-Semitic attacks by X-KI Grok: Poland calls for investigation by Brussels

Poland's Minister for Digital Affairs, Krzysztof Gawkowski, has called on the EU Commission to investigate possible violations of the Digital Services Act (DSA) by the AI account Grok of the short messaging service X. This emerges from a letter from Gawkowski to EU Digital Commissioner Henna Virkkunen, which was published by the news portal Euractiv. After the weekend, the account shared “erratic replies full of swear words that in numerous instances can be described as “defamatory,” it says. This is a very restrained way for the deputy prime minister to describe what has caused a worldwide uproar, particularly due to anti-Semitic statements and praise for Adolf Hitler.

Uproar over Grok

With the formal request to Brussels, the latest events surrounding Grok are now taking on a political dimension. After X boss Elon Musk announced an update to the AI account and better answers before the weekend, he began to spread increasingly anti-Semitic content from Monday onwards and eventually even referred to himself as “MechaHitler”. The account was then deactivated. Gawkowskis now points out that Musk had explicitly requested that the AI should not shy away from “politically incorrect” statements. What was seen on the platform on Monday was a clear violation of the DSA. According to Euractiv, the chatbot also defamed Poland's government.

While the account itself remains inactive, the posts generated have also had consequences elsewhere. According to the news agency Reuters, a court in Turkey has blocked access to some of them because they insult President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. An investigation has also been launched. The uproar over Grok's content is now also overshadowing the release of the latest AI model from Musk's AI company, xAI. In addition, Linda Yaccarino, who had been CEO of X for two years, resigned unexpectedly on Wednesday. She did not give any reasons for her decision.

(mho)