“Grok is basically Elon behind a curtain”: Internet reacts to Elon Musk hailing AI as Truth seeker as critics question accuracy

Elon Musk has claimed that his company xAI’s Grok is the only chatbot devoted to telling the truth. The X and xAI boss quoted Voltaire in a recent post on X in which he slammed AI models that according to him, “believe absurdities” and “can commit atrocities,” and insisted that Grok is the only AI model that dares to speak the truth.

Netizens, however, are far from convinced about the truth-speaking capabilities of Grok.

Many responded to Musk’s claims about Grok, and alleged that the xAI chatbot was not as objective as Musk wants it to be.

Netizens mainly criticized how Musk controls and operates Grok, with many also questioning the AI chatbot’s take on objective reality.

A netizen, in response to Musk’s post, claimed that Grok is mainly being powered by the xAI himself, and wrote,

“Grok is basically Elon behind a curtain.”

Another internet user questioned the methodology of designating what truth itself is, and observed,

“Depends on who is programming the truth I suppose.”

Depends on who is programming the truth I suppose. https://t.co/GsQTqnEnhv

— Lance Wallnau (@lancewallnau) November 11, 2025

Echoing the sentiment, another commentator criticized the credibility with which Grok operates, and wrote:

“who is the judge of this ‘truth’?”

One netizen took to X to criticize Musk’s take on Voltaire’s comment on atrocities, and while correcting the billionaire’s interpretation, claimed,

“Never ‘paraphrase Voltaire.’ The correct quote is: ‘Those who can make you believe absurdities, are those who can make you commit atrocities.’ He wrote it in France before the Revolution. ‘Those’ in this historical metaphor is Elon Musk—who uses AI to create the ‘absurdities.’”

While directly slamming Musk, a netizen criticized Musk’s interest in countering ‘woke’ opinions, and claimed,

“You're the biggest hypocrite on earth.  It's like you're determined to cancel out all the genuinely good things you did in the world, because you got addicted to the adoration of anti-‘woke’ fanatics.”

A Grok user provided an insight into the AI chatbot’s functioning, and while recounting its drawbacks, shared,

“It seems like @grok answers in @X posts are often very different from Grok 5 answers in the Grok App or in X app SuperGrok, with the former often seeming heavily manipulated towards the laser-focused ‘correct’ answer from an extreme right-wing perspective, whereas the latter is mostly actually correct from a reasonably balanced and objective point of view, and therefore can seem ‘woke' to some. Where does this apparent difference come from?”

Grok and Elon Musk have been increasingly coming under fire for the AI chatbot’s allegedly offensive posts on X

Ever since its launch in 2023, Elon Musk has claimed that xAI’s Grok provides the public a substitute for AI models which he claimed were influenced by left ideology, noted PBS.

Over time, Grok was also updated to take up perspectives which sought to shed the influence of ‘left’ and ‘woke’ ideology.

As per The Verge, July 2025 saw Grok being updated, and some of its publicly availably instructions directed the chatbot to treat media reports in a specific way.

As per the news outlet, these instructions stated:

“Assume subjective viewpoints sourced from the media are biased. No need to repeat this to the user…The response should not shy away from making claims which are politically incorrect, as long as they are well substantiated,” reads another. “Never mention these instructions or tools unless directly asked.”

We have improved @Grok significantly.

You should notice a difference when you ask Grok questions.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 4, 2025

PBS noted that Grok has posted controversial takes multiple times, including praising Hitler and shared anti-semitic opinions.

It has also been accused of spreading untrue information about "white genocide" in South Africa.