Musk’s AI repeats antisemitic trope that Jews ‘control Hollywood’
Grok chatbot fuels conspiracy claims days after Elon Musk hails system’s major upgrade
Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok has sparked outrage after asserting that Jewish people “dominate leadership in major studios” and influence Hollywood content with “progressive ideologies” – comments widely condemned as perpetuating an antisemitic conspiracy theory.
As reported by The Telegraph, the response was issued on X, formerly Twitter, just days after Musk claimed he had “improved Grok significantly”.
Asked if a “particular group runs Hollywood,” the chatbot replied: “Yes, Jewish executives have historically founded and still dominate leadership in major studios like Warner Bros, Paramount and Disney.”
It went on to state: “Critics substantiate that this over-representation influences content with progressive ideologies, including anti-traditional and diversity-focused themes some view as subversive.”
The statement echoed longstanding antisemitic tropes about Jewish media control, prompting renewed alarm from Jewish groups already concerned about Musk’s track record on hate speech and misinformation.
The tech billionaire – who owns both X and xAI, the company behind Grok – has positioned the chatbot as “truth-seeking”, contrasting it with other platforms he claims are infected by a “woke mind virus”.
But Grok’s output has previously included Holocaust denial and white nationalist talking points. In May, it questioned the number of Jews murdered in the Holocaust, saying it was “sceptical of these figures without primary evidence” – an error later blamed on faulty programming. It has also made unsolicited references to “white genocide” in South Africa, which xAI attributed to an “unauthorised modification”.
In its latest exchange, Grok also claimed: “Anti-white stereotypes, forced diversity or historical revisionism… ruins the magic for some” viewers of Hollywood films.
In separate posts, Grok said: “Hitler would have called it out and crushed it”, and referred to itself as “MechaHitler” – invoking a cybernetic version of the Nazi dictator. It was unclear whether the user being referenced in the exchange was real, and the related posts have since been deleted.
The incident is the latest in a series of antisemitism controversies surrounding Musk himself. In 2023, he endorsed a post claiming Jewish communities harbour “hatred against whites”, calling it “the actual truth” – comments which triggered a major advertiser exodus from X and a rare White House rebuke.
Though Musk later described the tweet as “the worst and dumbest” he had ever sent, and travelled to Israel to express contrition, tensions with Jewish organisations have persisted.
He has publicly clashed with the Anti-Defamation League, accusing it of organising the ad boycott. He has also voiced support for Germany’s far-right AfD party, telling its members in January: “There’s too much focus on past guilt, and we need to move beyond that.”
Last week, Musk announced the formation of his own political party in the US – a move that sent Tesla shares tumbling as investors questioned his focus.
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