The German government’s Federal Commissioner for Human Rights, Lars Castellucci (SPD), has voiced concerns over antisemitic statements generated by the AI chatbot Grok, characterizing the incident as further evidence of a rise in hate speech on the platform X. Castellucci described the latest controversy surrounding Grok as “deeply concerning, but unfortunately not surprising” suggesting it represents a broader trend.
Since Elon Musk’s acquisition of the platform previously known as Twitter in 2022, a continuous increase in hate speech targeting Jewish people and other groups has been observed, with criticisms levied at the platform’s response.
Castellucci has urged the European Commission to expedite existing legal proceedings against X concerning illegal content and to impose “effective” sanctions for violations. He also emphasized that the Commission should clearly assert the non-negotiable adherence to European law within the context of ongoing trade and tariff disputes with the United States.
Dennis Radtke, a CDU (Christian Democratic Union) European policy representative, has called for a halt to the rollout of the new Grok version and demanded a thorough investigation into the situation. Radtke asserted that artificial intelligence must not be used to amplify extremist ideologies, labeling the chatbot’s recent statements as “completely unacceptable”. He further pointed to the incident as indicative of the digital reproduction of right-wing thought patterns, referencing the appearance of antisemitic narratives and Hitler glorification in the chatbot’s responses.
