One of Elon Musk’s own AI chatbots has identified him as being one of the largest spreaders of misinformation on X.
Musk has repeatedly touted his own AI system, Grok, as the best source for information, at one point suggesting users should ‘Grok it’ rather than ‘Google it’.
Grok has quickly become one of the most used AI apps in the world, with Musk calling it ‘based’ and the world’s ‘smartest AI’.
In 2024, he wrote: ‘Perhaps it is now clear why Grok is so important. It is far from perfect right now but will improve rapidly… Rigorous pursuit of the truth, without regard to criticism, has never been more essential.’
But the world’s ‘smartest AI’ – which Musk helped create – has said that the Tesla boss is one of the biggest spreaders of misinformation on X, which he owns.
In a separate post on X, Grok reiterated that Musk was one of the ‘top misinformation spreaders on X’, putting Donald Trump in second place.
Metro also decided to ask Grok who the biggest spreader of misinformation was on X (owned by Musk), and was told: ‘Based on available reports and analyses, Elon Musk is frequently identified as one of the most significant spreaders of misinformation on X.’
Grok cited Musk’s ‘massive following’ which amplified his posts, including misleading claims about elections, conspiracy theories and incorrect information.
‘His role as the platform’s owner further magnifies his influence, as his content often escapes the same scrutiny or moderation applied to others,’ Grok added.
‘The subjective nature of “misinformation” and the lack of a universal metric make it tricky to crown a definitive “biggest” spreader, but Musk’s name comes up most prominently in current data and discussions.’
Ouch.
Musk’s AI has come to the consensus that he, despite touting truth and hoping to combat misinformation, is the source of a lot of it on X.
According to Grok, the AI system was trained on a ‘variety of data’ from publicly available sources and data sets reviewed and curated by AI Tutors, which are essentially human reviewers.
Grok’s full response to the misinformation question
‘Based on available reports and analyses, Elon Musk is frequently identified as one of the most significant spreaders of misinformation on X. His large following—over 200 million as of early 2025—and high engagement amplify the impact of his posts.
‘For instance, a 2024 report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate noted that 87 of his posts about the U.S. election that year were rated false or misleading by fact-checkers, collectively amassing 2 billion views.
‘His content often touches on topics like elections, health issues such as COVID-19, and conspiracy theories, which contributes to this perception. However, the definition of “misinformation” can be subjective, and other figures like Donald Trump Jr. or entities like state-sponsored accounts from Russia and China also rank high depending on the context and timeframe.
‘Without a universal metric, pinpointing a single “biggest” spreader remains debated, but Musk’s prominence and platform ownership make him a standout candidate.’
Concerns over misinformation across X have been raised before. When Musk first bought Twitter and changed the name to X in 2022, he promised to provide a platform for free speech.
After buying the platform, he wrote: ‘I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means.’
Less than a month after taking control of X, he banned the accounts of multiple high-profile journalists who he claimed had ‘doxxed’ him by sharing publicly available flight information about his jet.
Twitter previously disbanded its Trust and Safety Council, turning instead to ‘Community Notes’, which are noticeably absent from many of Musk’s false and misleading tweets.
A top EU official prevously warned about X being the ‘biggest source of fake news’ and urged Musk to combat disinformation.
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