On Tuesday July 8, X (née Twitter) was forced to switch off the social media platform’s in-built AI, Grok, after it declared itself to be a robot version of Hitler, spewing antisemitic hate and racist conspiracy theories. This followed X owner Elon Musk’s declaration over the weekend that he was insisting Grok be less “politically correct.”

Grok will be available in Tesla vehicles, the company’s CEO Elon Musk announced on his social media platform X on Thursday morning—hours after xAI launched Grok 4, the most recent version of the chatbot that sparked controversy earlier this week after posting in what it called “MechaHitler mode.”

MechaHitler is a fictional cyborg version of Adolf Hitler from the 1992 game Wolfenstein 3D, which gained fame in 90s satire and early internet memes.

While xAI promised to resolve the issue, many are asking for elected leaders to take a stand against the company’s presence in Memphis. The Greater Memphis Chamber and other xAI proponents have not released a statement on the matter.

The Grok debacle isn't just a tech ethics story. It’s a business, legal, and reputational risk story—one that businesses in nearly every industry shouldn’t ignore.

Linda Yaccarino has announced that she is stepping down as the CEO of Elon Musk’s X after two years at the helm of the social media platform, previously known as Twitter.