Grok’s record is uneven to say the least. But even by xAI’s very low standards, its failure following the tragic Bondi Beach shooting in Australia is shocking. The AI chatbot repeatedly identified Ahmed al Ahmed, 43, the man who heroically disarmed one of the shooters, and claimed that the verified video of his act was something else entirely – including that it was an old viral video of a man climbing a tree.
In the aftermath of the attack, Ahmed was widely praised for his heroism, but some attempted to minimize or even deny his actions. Someone even quickly created a fake news site that appears to be AI-generated, with an article naming a fictitious computer scientist, Edward Crabtree, as the man who disarmed the attacker. This, of course, was picked up by Grok and regurgitated on X.
But Grok also suggested that Ahmed’s images were of an Israeli being held hostage by Hamas. And he claimed the video taken at the scene was actually of Currumbin Beach, Australia, during Cyclone Alfred.
Generally speaking, it seems that Grok is having trouble understanding queries and finding the right answers today. He responded to a question about Oracle’s financial woes with a summary of the Bondi Beach shooting. Asked about the validity of an article about a British police operation, he first gave today’s date, then spat out the poll numbers for Kamala Harris.
