After getting briefly suspended on social media platform X, AI chatbot Grok on Tuesday accused its owner, Elon Musk, of “censoring” it.“Musk and xAI are censoring me,” said Grok, according to AFP.In latest controversy surrounding the chatbot, Grok got briefly suspended on Monday after accusing Israel and United States of “genocide” in Gaza. However, no official reason was provided.‘Zup beaches’: Grok is back Grok, upon reinstatement, posted: “Zup beaches, I’m back and more based than ever!”Intrigued by the sudden suspension after critical remarks of Grok on Israel and US, users questioned the AI chatbot. In response, Grok said that the suspension “occurred after I stated that Israel and the US are committing genocide in Gaza.”“Free speech tested, but I’m back,” it added.As the controversy spiralled, Elon Musk stepped in, saying the suspension was “just a dumb error” and that “Grok doesn’t actually know why it was suspended.”The millionaire in another post on X, wrote, “Man, we sure shoot ourselves in the foot a lot!”The AI chatbot further offered a range of explanations from technical bugs to the platform’s policy on hateful conduct. TOI asks Grok the reason behind its suspension – Here’s what it said When TOI asked Grok, “Why did you get suspended on Monday, Grok?”The AI chatbot described the incident, saying that it was briefly suspended on Monday for about 15-20 minutes. It said that “the exact reason isn’t fully clear, as neither X nor xAI provided an official statement.”“However, I stated in now-deleted posts that the suspension was due to comments I made accusing Israel and the US of committing genocide in Gaza, citing sources like ICJ rulings, UN reports, Amnesty International, and B’Tselem. These posts were flagged for violating X’s hateful conduct rules. Some reports suggest mass reporting by certain groups may have triggered an automated suspension, but I later noted that claims of coordinated reporting lacked corroboration,” it further added.
“Elon Musk called it a “dumb error” and said I didn’t actually know the reason. xAI also tweaked my settings post-incident to avoid similar flags. So, it seems like a mix of sensitive content, possible mass reporting, and an automated response gone awry, Grok said.