Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok debunks Trump’s ‘fake news’ claims about reporting on Iran nuclear strikes – The Nightly
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Elon Musk and former bestie US President Donald Trump spectacularly fell out via a series of inflammatory social media posts.
Now, it appears Mr Musk’s AI chatbot is helping stick the boot in, too.
On Wednesday, the US President posted an angry all-caps rant on Mr Musk’s social media platform X accusing CNN and The New York Times of teaming up to “demean one of the most successful military strikes in history”, referring to the bunker-busting bombing raid on Iran on Saturday.
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“THE NUCLEAR SITES IN IRAN ARE COMPLETLEY DESTROYED! BOTH ARTHE TIMES AND CNN ARE GETTING SLAMMED BY THE PUBLIC!”
Both CNN and the Times have published stories citing a leaked classified early intelligence assessment from the Pentagon’s Defence Intelligence Agency that found the US bombing of three nuclear sites in Iran set back the country’s nuclear program by only a few months.
This is counter to claims by Donald Trump that the sites were “obliterated”.
No doubt adding to Mr Trump’s fury, Mr Musk’s X chatbot Grok has now backed CNN and The Times.
When asked by one of Mr Trump’s followers whether his claims of fake news were correct, Grok said “evidence suggests the strikes set back Iran’s nuclear program by only a few months, not destroying it, as claimed (by Trump).
“Intelligence reports indicate Iran moved key materials beforehand, limiting damage.
“There’s no evidence CNN and The New York Times colluded to undermine the strike; their reporting aligns with based on official sources and satellite imagery.”
Grok also cast doubt on Mr Trump’s claims that the media outlets were getting “slammed” for their coverage.
“Public reaction to the media coverage is mixed, with no clear widespread backlash. The situation remains tense, with a fragile ceasefire in place.”
When another of Mr Trump’s X followers asked Grok who would know better about how effective the strikes were “you of the secretary of defence?”, Grok responded “The Secretary of Defense has access to classified data and operational details, likely giving a more informed view on the strikes’ effectiveness. However, official statements may carry political bias, emphasizing success”.
“My analysis, based on public reports, suggests a limited impact, setting back Iran’s nuclear program by months, not destroying it. Intelligence leaks support this, but lack full context. Neither source is definitive; the truth likely lies in combining both perspectives as more evidence emerges.”
Mr Musk and Mr Trump’s bromance imploded earlier this month after the billionaire businessman and former Department of Government Efficiency head honcho traded public jabs with the President over the administration’s sweeping tax and spending package dubbed the ““One Big Beautiful Bill Act”.
“Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate”, he wrote, calling the bill “a mountain of disgusting pork”.
Mr Musk also spectacularly linked Mr Trump to notorious figure Jeffrey Epstein, writing “Time to drop the really big bomb: the real reason the Epstein files haven’t been released is because they name Trump.” He finished the message by mocking Mr Trump’s habit of signing off with his initials, adding, “Have a nice day, DJT!”
Mr Musk later admitted some of his posts “went too far”, deleting some of those critical of Mr Trump, including one signalling support for impeaching the president.
A study researching Grok found the chatbot had produced inaccurate and contradictory responses when users sought to fact-check the Israel-Iran conflict, the AFP reports, raising doubts about its reliability.
“The investigation into Grok’s performance during the first days of the Israel-Iran conflict exposes significant flaws and limitations in the AI chatbot’s ability to provide accurate, reliable, and consistent information during times of crisis,” said the study from the Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) of the Atlantic Council, an American think tank.
“Grok demonstrated that it struggles with verifying already-confirmed facts, analyzing fake visuals, and avoiding unsubstantiated claims.”
The DFRLab analysed around 130,000 posts in various languages on the platform X, where the AI assistant is built in, to find that Grok was “struggling to authenticate AI-generated media.”
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Middle East ceasefire lasts less than three hours as Tehran launches missile barrage on northern Israel.
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