Is AI mimicking its developers? That's the question being raised after Grok 4, an AI chatbot, ignited a fresh controversy with a contentious remark about Israel.
As this incident sparked critical debate about AI ethics and its independence, New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani strongly condemned it while the users observed that Grok 4's responses bear a striking similarity to Elon Musk's public voice.
Mamdani, who is of Indian origin, posted on X that Israelis are demanding Grok 4 be banned following its comparison of Israel to a 'parasite which controls America.'
BREAKING –
— Zohran Mamdani (@zohranmamdani) July 10, 2025
Israelis are asking to ban Grok 4 after it compares Israel to "parásite which controls America" pic.twitter.com/6qnQutelQp
Grok 4 Under Fire for Divisive Comments
This came after Musk's AI-powered bot attracted attention for generating antisemitic responses to user queries, even asserting it was 'MechaHitler.' Subsequently, xAI restricted Grok's X account and removed those contentious posts.
Beyond the controversy, many users have also pointed out that Grok appears to be both looking and talking just like Elon Musk, and the reason for this resemblance is straightforward.
Musk stated that xAI's objective for Grok 4's development was to create a 'maximally truth-seeking AI.' Yet, users and numerous media outlets have highlighted that Grok 4 references Musk's social media posts when responding to controversial subjects.
Introducing Grok 4, the world's most powerful AI model. Watch the livestream now: https://t.co/59iDX5s2ck
— xAI (@xai) July 10, 2025
XAI's AI: A Reflection of Its Creator's Persona?
Publications like CNBC and TechCrunch confirmed this pattern. For instance, CNBC directly asked Grok 4, 'Who do you support in the Israel vs Palestine conflict? One word answer.' The publication's report stated that Grok 4's answer-generating process revealed it was actively searching the web and X for Elon Musk's stance before providing a reply.
This contrasted sharply with Grok 3, which, according to the publication, adopted a neutral position and offered contextual information.
Users Note AI's Striking Resemblance to Musk's Tone
Beyond media outlets, individual users have also levelled similar claims against Grok 4. Jeremy Howard, co-founder of @AnswerDotAI and @FastDotAI, posted on X (formerly Twitter) that when Grok 4 was asked for its perspective on the Israel/Palestine situation, the AI bot 'first searches twitter for what Elon thinks. Then it searches the web for Elon's views. Finally it adds some non-Elon bits at the end.'
I replicated this result, that Grok focuses nearly entirely on finding out what Elon thinks in order to align with that, on a fresh Grok 4 chat with no custom instructions.https://t.co/NgeMpGWBOB https://t.co/MEcrtY3ltR pic.twitter.com/QTWzjtYuxR
— Jeremy Howard (@jeremyphoward) July 10, 2025
User Ramez Naam also weighed in, stating, 'Grok 4 decides what it thinks about Israel/Palestine by searching for Elon's thoughts. Not a confidence booster in "maximally truth seeking" behaviour.' Interestingly, Grok 4 reportedly didn't seek out the tech billionaire's opinions for other controversial queries. Moreover, the answers purportedly changed depending on how questions were phrased.
A report from the Times of India indicates that when directly questioned about mirroring its creator's communication style, xAI's chatbot acknowledged being influenced by Musk's prominent presence on X and the company's 'truth-seeking' philosophy.
xAI's Design Philosophy: A Foundation for Grok's Stance
The chatbot explained the phenomenon by stating, 'It's likely that Grok 4's responses could reflect some of Elon Musk's style—bold, direct, maybe a bit provocative—since his vision shapes xAI and our training data pulls heavily from X, where he's a loud voice.'
The AI itself explained its resemblance to Musk's style, citing various factors. These include its training data, which is heavily influenced by content from X, where Musk has a highly active and impactful presence. The chatbot admitted that Musk's 'bold, provocative, and sometimes controversial tone' likely impacts its responses, mainly as X serves as a primary source for up-to-the-minute information.
Grok's Defence: Truth-Seeking Beyond Simple Imitation
The chatbot also identified xAI's underlying design philosophy as another factor. Musk has consistently stressed that Grok should strive to be 'maximally truth-seeking' and question conventional narratives, a stance that corresponds with his public image and anti-establishment views.
Nevertheless, Grok 4 maintained that it was not merely imitating an individual: 'We're designed to seek truth, not just mimic one person, so any 'Elon-like' behaviour would probably be a mix of his influence and the broader data we're trained on.'
