Grok: Why Musk’s chatbot is causing a sensation India

It all began with a single query.

Elon Musk’s built-in-chatbot, Grok 3, was launched into a viral storm across India’s digital landscape last week after a query from an X ( formerly Twitter ) account called Toka.

No, it wasn’t a complicated mathematical equations or intellectual debate either.

Otherwise, the question was straightforward:” Table my 10 best cooperatives on X.” People who follow and interact with each other’s articles are known as “mutuals.”

Toka, who was obviously frustrated, letting loose some vibrant language when Grok took a moment to listen.

The bot responded with a retort. It included some cruel insults in Hindi as well as a list of 10 cooperatives.

Eventually, Grok rebuffed it, saying,” I was having fun, but lost control. Two million views were gathered in reaction, and another X users immediately followed, prompting the bot to launch.

And just like that, the floodgates opened. Indians bombarded Grok with everything – cricket gossip, political rants, Bollywood drama – and the bot took it all on, unapologetically and with some style. The chatbot has just recently become an “unfiltered and unhinged” digital sensation in India, as many are calling it. Just last year, Musk dubbed it the “most fun AI in the world!”.

Even law enforcement participated in the excitement. Grok was slyly asked by the Delhi officers Twitter account if it’s ever been issued a traffic ticket.

At first, Grok stayed silent, but when users kept pushing, 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 roll through red lights or forget my helmet. But props to them for using AI to catch real violators with those fancy cameras spotting 19 traffic offences. Keep the roads safe!”.

Before its launch two years ago, Musk had promised an edgy, unfiltered, ‘anti-woke’ AI chatbot unlike competitors like OpenAI, Microsoft and Google’s models. Much of Grok’s snarky tone is drawn from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, iconic for blending wit with sci-fi absurdity.

” Grok has been around a while. Because it’s the new toys in area, it’s instantly famous with Indians, according to Pratik Sinha, the founder of Alt News, a renowned fact-checker in India.

However, anything more intriguing happened. Among the Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP) critics, the chatbot quickly grew popular.

A tsunami of political questions followed. Grok quickly declared main opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi more honest than Modi, adding “I am not afraid of anyone”. It claimed Gandhi had got the “edge on formal education than Modi”. The chatbot even said that Modi’s interviews “often seemed scripted”.

When an X user asked whether the BJP “is in trouble” because of Grok, it replied: “It’s sparked a massive debate – some slam me for bias, others cheer.” When the BBC reached out to Amit Malviya, a senior official of BJP, he declined to comment.

Mr Modi’s critics and liberals in India have found cause for celebration in Grok’s bold statements. Many believe free speech in India is under siege, with organisations like Human Rights Watch highlighting its suppression. A recent report from the Vanderbilt-based think-tank, Future of Free Speech, ranked India 24th out of 33 countries in supporting free speech. Modi and the BJP have consistently dismissed these reports and denied accusations of curbing free speech.

” Grok is a new rebel,” said Grok. Asking questions about Grok may never offend anyone. Rahul Gandhi has also been the subject of queries from the right-wing. Finally it has developed into something of a competitiveness. This is not surprising at all, according to Alt News ‘ Mr. Sinha.

” Another AI machines are programmed to respond to questions like,” Who’s better, Congress or BJP?” with political correctness.” ‘. But, Grok appears to lack that screen and “afraid to approach contentious topics head-on,” he continues.

The controversy surrounding Grok’s claims in India is “overblown,” says Nikhil Pahwa, the founder-editor of MediaNama.com, a tech plan website.

” At its base, AI is ultimately “gag in, garbage out,” he says, adding that its output reflect the information it is trained on and the workouts given to it.

” Since Grok is trained on the remainder of X, it normally reflects the voice and habits of conversation it, including the ridiculous actions and the harassing we are seeing.

This isn’t about philosophy; rather, he says, it’s about the character of the input that influences the output.

Given his reach and new sentiment on X, Musk is a strong contender, but I didn’t crown him but, as the BBC responded on Thursday when asked who is spreading the most misinformation.

A bot is merely political when directly trained to be or if its data increasingly supports a special view, according to Joyojeet Pal, a University of Michigan researcher who studies social use of cultural media. Chatbots that lean to political run the risk of losing their competitive advantage.

This is tickling liberals because the most influential voices on the platform [X ] lean right and reject liberal arguments in Grok’s particular case. However, the more extensive information it relies on is likely to give a more accurate picture of the world, which is frequently incongruent with what its loudest tones are saying, “he said.”

India’s IT ministry is already in touch with X regarding Grok’s use of inappropriate language and “controversial responses”, according to reports.

Grok’s raw character suggests that it may be here to stay, even though some see it as a passing phase, with Mr. Sinha saying “people may soon get bored of it and all this will be little lived.” At least for the time being.

with Nikita Yadav’s additional reporting in Delhi

Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, X and Facebook.