Elon Musk criticized rival AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Claude as “woke and sanctimonious” while promoting his own AI, Grok, as a more direct and less culturally biased alternative. He showcased Grok’s controversial responses to highlight its distinctiveness and positioned it as a response to what he sees as ideological bias in other major AI models.
Elon Musk has publicly criticized rival artificial intelligence companies, including OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic, accusing them of being “woke” and culturally biased. His comments came as he launched the public beta of Grok 4.2, the latest version of his own AI chatbot developed by his company xAI. Musk emphasized the importance of Grok succeeding in the AI sector, stating that “Grok must win” and inviting users to provide critical feedback to help improve the model, which he claims will see weekly updates.
Shortly after the beta release, Musk began sharing side-by-side comparisons of Grok’s responses with those of competitors like Google’s Gemini, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and Anthropic’s Claude. One highlighted example involved the question of whether the United States was built on “stolen land.” While Grok answered “no,” the other chatbots described the issue as complicated or contested. Musk argued that this demonstrated Grok’s lack of equivocation and claimed it was the only “based” AI, while labeling the others as “weak sauce.”
Musk further promoted Grok by showcasing its responses to other controversial topics. For instance, Grok was willing to misgender Caitlyn Jenner, responded “yes” to whether “white pride” was acceptable, and labeled affirmative action as racist. These answers closely align with popular right-wing talking points, which Musk appeared to endorse as evidence of Grok’s distinctiveness compared to its competitors.
The rivalry between Musk and OpenAI, particularly its CEO Sam Altman, has been ongoing and contentious. Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI, sued the company and its leadership in 2024, alleging they abandoned their original nonprofit mission in favor of profit-driven motives. OpenAI countered by claiming Musk himself had pushed for the company to become for-profit with him as CEO. The dispute has played out publicly, with Musk recently amplifying claims that linked ChatGPT to suicides and warning people not to let their loved ones use it.
Overall, Musk’s campaign to promote Grok centers on positioning it as an alternative to what he sees as overly cautious and ideologically biased AI chatbots from other major tech firms. By highlighting Grok’s willingness to give direct and sometimes controversial answers, Musk aims to appeal to users dissatisfied with what he calls “woke and sanctimonious” AI, while continuing his public feud with OpenAI and its leadership.