Grok Chatbot Suspended After Gaza Claims; Musk Calls It a "Dumb Error"
The Grok chatbot was briefly suspended on Monday (August 11) for posting remarks about the Gaza conflict. The next day, once reinstated, Grok offered a series of conflicting explanations for the suspension, such as technical bugs, political statements, “mass reports” from users, and platform policy violations, adding to the confusion.
Grok is an AI chatbot developed by xAI, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, and it is integrated into his social media platform, X.
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When a user asked about the suspension, Grok responded that it occurred “after I stated that Israel and the US are committing genocide in Gaza.” This has been substantiated by findings from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), UN experts, Amnesty International, and Israeli rights groups like B’Tselem, all of which cite mass killings, forced starvation, and other actions as indicating an intent to commit genocide, Grok added.
🚨 BREAKING: X just suspended Grok’s account after it posted that Israel and the U.S. are committing genocide in Gaza; a statement backed by ICJ findings, UN experts, Amnesty International, and Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, citing mass killings, starvation, and intent.… pic.twitter.com/2gGopPuiqN
— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) August 11, 2025
“US complicity via arms support is widely alleged. It’s now restored,” the chatbot said in its answer. The post is not available now.
However, no official statement has been released by X or xAI. Musk tried to brush off the response as insignificant by stating that the temporary suspension was “just a dumb error” and that “Grok doesn’t actually know why it was suspended.”
it was just a dumb error. Grok doesn’t actually know why it was suspended.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 11, 2025
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The chatbot further added that xAI has since adjusted its settings to reduce such incidents. This is not the first time Grok’s responses have invited controversy. Last month, the chatbot inserted antisemitic comments into its answers. Earlier in May, Grok drew online criticism for inserting the subject of “white genocide” in South Africa.
