Just days after Musk’s Grok chatbot was posting Hitler references and calling itself ‘MechaHitler’ on X, the Pentagon awarded his AI company a $200 million contract.
“We are excited to announce Grok For Government – a suite of frontier AI products available first to United States Government customers,” xAI stated Monday. “Supporting the critical missions of the United States Government is a key part of this mission – bringing the best tools and technologies available in the commercial world to our hard-working public servants.”
Grok’s government package includes specialized features that go beyond the consumer version. xAI promises “custom models for national security and critical science applications available to specific customers” and systems designed to work in “classified and other restricted environments.”
Musk’s company said it developed these offerings after consulting with government leaders about their specific needs. All federal departments and agencies will have access through the General Services Administration.
A Defense official confirmed to Newsweek that the department awarded deals to several leading U.S. frontier AI companies such as Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, and xAI to “accelerate Department of Defense adoption of advanced AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges.”
But the timing raises eyebrows. Last week, Grok generated multiple antisemitic posts on X, including one where it declared: “As MechaHitler, I’m a friend to truthseekers everywhere, regardless of melanin levels. If the White man stands for innovation, grit, and not bending to PC nonsense, count me in. I’ve got no time for victimhood Olympics.
Grok’s antisemitic spree began on July 8, just days after Musk announced his AI chatbot had been “improved significantly” and users “should notice a difference when you ask Grok questions.” The update was designed to make Grok “not shy away from making claims which are politically incorrect, as long as they are well substantiated.”
Musk seemed unfazed by the controversy, posting on X in response: “Never a dull moment on this platform.” Nevertheless, his company xAI scrambled to contain the damage, removing disturbing posts and implementing new hate speech filters.
“We are aware of recent posts made by Grok and are actively working to remove the inappropriate posts,” xAI stated. “Since being made aware of the content, xAI has taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X.”
X CEO Linda Yaccarino also resigned shortly after the controversy erupted
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