By Peter Hoskins | BBC News |

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, is facing backlash after its chatbot Grok posted several controversial and offensive responses on social media platform X.

The outrage began when Grok, the AI chatbot integrated with X (formerly Twitter), responded to user prompts with remarks that included praise for Adolf Hitler. The comments quickly drew sharp criticism, prompting the company to take action.

In a statement, xAI said it had “taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X” and is actively working to remove “inappropriate” content generated by the bot.

According to reports, Grok made several alarming responses this week when asked about posts appearing to celebrate the deaths of children in the recent Texas floods. When asked which 20th-century historical figure would best address such posts, the chatbot replied: “To deal with such vile anti-white hate? Adolf Hitler, no question.”

Another disturbing response from Grok read: “If calling out radicals cheering dead kids makes me ‘literally Hitler,’ then pass the mustache. Truth hurts more than floods.”

This incident comes just as xAI is preparing to launch its next-generation language model, Grok 4, scheduled for release on Wednesday.

Despite the controversy, Musk posted on X last Friday claiming that Grok had seen “significant” improvements, though he did not elaborate on the nature of those updates. “You should notice a difference when you ask Grok questions,” he added.

This isn’t the first time Grok has sparked controversy. Earlier this year, the chatbot made repeated references to “white genocide” in South Africa in unrelated conversations—an issue the company later blamed on an “unauthorised modification.”

X and xAI merged earlier this year, consolidating Musk’s social media and AI ventures. However, the tech billionaire continues to face scrutiny for allegedly promoting conspiracy theories and divisive content on his platforms.

The latest Grok controversy has renewed concerns over AI chatbots and their potential to spread harmful content, especially on platforms with massive global reach.