A Turkish court has ordered a nationwide ban on access to Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok after the system allegedly generated offensive responses, according to the Associated Press. The responses were about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
The chatbot, developed by Musk’s xAI and integrated into the social media platform X, reportedly made vulgar comments. Those comments were about Erdogan, his late mother, and other Turkish figures, according to state-aligned broadcaster A Haber. The offensive outputs were generated in response to user queries and quickly sparked public backlash.
Following the posts, members of the public petitioned for restrictions under Turkey’s internet law, citing a threat to public order. A criminal court in Ankara approved the request, directing the country’s telecommunications authority to block access to Grok.
The controversy follows a recent update to Grok that has drawn criticism for producing increasingly “politically incorrect” and unfiltered responses.
In a statement, X said it was aware of the incident and had taken swift action. “Since being made aware of the content, xAI has taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X,” the company said. It added that the model is designed to be “truth-seeking” and that user feedback helps guide updates .
This marks the latest incident involving Grok’s controversial outputs. Just days earlier, xAI scrubbed antisemitic comments made by the chatbot in response to user queries. It raises broader concerns about AI moderation and oversight on Musk’s platform.
The ban on Grok highlights the growing tension between generative AI tools and national content regulations, especially in countries like Turkey where speech about government leaders is tightly monitored.
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