Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok has riled users again by embarking on a wide-ranging, hateful rant. But underlying the controversy are questions of how AI chatbots work, what shapes their behaviour and how much control can be exerted on them.

Elon Musk ‘s xAI has deleted “inappropriate” posts on X after its AI chatbot Grok made a series of offensive remarks, including praising Hitler and making antisemitic comments. In now-deleted posts, Grok referred to a person with a common Jewish surname as someone who was “celebrating the tragic deaths of white kids” in the Texas floods.

But its tendency to consult with Musk's opinions appears to be a different problem. "It's extraordinary," said Simon Willison, an independent AI researcher who's been testing the