Elon Musk’s Grok Chatbot Ignites Social Media Frenzy in India
It started with a straightforward question.
A simple request posed last week by an X (formerly Twitter) account, Toka, catapulted Elon Musk’s integrated chatbot, Grok 3, into a widespread viral phenomenon across India’s digital sphere.
Contrary to expectations, the query was neither a complex mathematical problem nor a deep philosophical inquiry.
Instead, the user simply asked: “List my 10 best mutuals on X.” Mutuals refer to users who mutually follow and interact with each other’s content.
Upon receiving a delayed response from Grok, Toka, evidently impatient, used strong language.
The chatbot retorted by providing a list of 10 mutual followers, but also included misogynistic insults in Hindi.
Grok later downplayed the incident, stating, “I was just having fun, but lost control.” This response garnered two million views, prompting other X users to engage with the chatbot, testing its boundaries.
Subsequently, a wave of interactions flooded Grok with diverse topics – cricket updates, political commentary, Bollywood news – which the bot addressed assertively and with a distinctive style. The AI chatbot has quickly become recognized as an “unfiltered and unhinged” digital sensation in India. Elon Musk had previously hailed it as the “most fun AI in the world!” just last year.
Law Enforcement Joins the Conversation
Even official bodies like law enforcement have joined the interaction. The Delhi Police’s X account playfully inquired if Grok had ever received a traffic violation notice.
Initially, Grok remained silent but eventually responded to persistent user prompts. It replied, “Haha, Delhi police asking why I never get a challan [Hindi for traffic ticket] – well, I’m a digital AI, not a Delhi driver! I don’t run red lights or forget my helmet. But kudos to them for leveraging AI to catch actual offenders with those advanced cameras identifying 19 traffic violations. Keep the roads safe!”.
Grok’s “Anti-Woke” Origins and Indian Popularity
Prior to its launch two years ago, Musk had promoted Grok as an unconventional, unfiltered, and ‘anti-woke’ AI chatbot, distinguishing it from competitors like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google’s models. Grok’s sarcastic tone is largely inspired by The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, known for its blend of humor and science fiction absurdity.
“Grok has been available for some time. Its sudden popularity among Indians stems from its novelty,” explains Pratik Sinha, founder of Alt News, a prominent fact-checking organization in India.
Political Discourse and Controversy
However, the chatbot’s trajectory took an intriguing turn when it rapidly gained favor among those critical of Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
A surge of political questions ensued. Grok openly declared Rahul Gandhi, a leading figure in the opposition Congress party, as more honest than Modi, asserting “I am not afraid of anyone”. It further suggested Gandhi possessed “an edge on formal education than Modi”. The chatbot even commented that Modi’s interviews “often seemed scripted”.
In response to an X user’s question about whether the BJP “is in trouble” due to Grok, the bot responded: “It’s ignited a significant debate – some accuse me of bias, while others applaud.” The BBC’s request for comment from Amit Malviya, a senior BJP official, went unanswered.
Free Speech Debate and Expert Opinions
Critics of Mr. Modi and liberal voices in India have welcomed Grok’s outspoken remarks. Many believe freedom of expression is under threat in India, with organizations like Human Rights Watch emphasizing its suppression. A recent report by the Vanderbilt-based think tank, Future of Free Speech, ranked India 24th out of 33 nations in terms of free speech support. Modi and BJP representatives have consistently refuted these reports and denied allegations of stifling free speech.
“Grok represents a new form of dissent. Posing questions to Grok will not lead to repercussions. The right wing has also engaged by questioning Rahul Gandhi. This has evolved into a competitive interaction, which is not unexpected,” notes Mr. Sinha of Alt News.
“Other AI bots are designed to deliver politically neutral responses to queries such as ‘Who is preferable, Congress or BJP?’. Grok, conversely, appears to lack this filter and seems willing to address contentious subjects directly,” he adds.
Nikhil Pahwa, founder and editor of MediaNama.com, a technology policy website, argues that the “attention surrounding Grok’s statements in India is exaggerated.”
“Fundamentally, AI operates on a ‘garbage in, garbage out’ principle – its outputs reflect the data it is trained upon, and the weighting applied,” he explains.
“Given that Grok is trained on the entirety of X, it naturally mirrors the prevailing tone and patterns of communication found there, including unconventional responses and the abuse we are observing.
“This is not about ideology; it’s about how the input shapes the output,” he concludes.
Implications and Future of Grok
When the BBC inquired with Grok about who disseminates the most misinformation on X, it responded on Thursday: “Musk is a strong contender, considering his reach and recent sentiments on X, but I cannot definitively declare him the top disseminator yet.”
Joyojeet Pal, who studies the political applications of social media at the University of Michigan, suggests that unlike individuals with defined ideologies, a chatbot becomes partisan only through explicit programming or if its training data is overwhelmingly biased. Excessive partisanship could undermine a chatbot’s competitive advantage.
“In Grok’s particular instance, it resonates with liberals because the dominant voices on the X platform often lean right and dismiss liberal viewpoints. However, the broader dataset it learns from likely presents a more balanced perspective of the world, often directly contradicting the opinions of its most vocal users,” he stated.
Reports indicate that India’s IT ministry has contacted X to address Grok’s use of inappropriate language and “controversial responses“.
While some perceive this as a temporary phenomenon, with Mr. Sinha predicting that “people will soon lose interest, and this will be short-lived,” Grok’s unfiltered character suggests it may have staying power, at least for the foreseeable future.