Elon Musk’s new AI-powered encyclopedia, Grokipedia, is offering a starkly revised version of the January 6 Capitol insurrection. The entry frames the attack as a “legitimate expression of grievances” and cites debunked claims of “electoral flaws.”
This rewriting of history aligns with Musk’s stated goal for the encyclopedia to reflect his right-wing views. The platform, “fact-checked” only by Musk’s AI chatbot Grok, abandons the human-edited model of Wikipedia, which Musk frequently attacks.
The Grokipedia entry on January 6 downplays Donald Trump’s role in inciting the riot and gives weight to the lie of “widespread claims of voting irregularities.” It argues that “mainstream accounts” have amplified casualty figures “beyond forensic evidence,” a common talking point used to minimize the attack.
This ideological project was suggested to Musk by David Sacks, a former AI and cryptocurrency czar in the Trump administration. Musk himself briefly served in Trump’s second presidency, heading the “department of government efficiency” (Doge).
The platform’s commitment to right-wing narratives appears to supersede factual accuracy. Journalists are already pointing out other clear errors in the AI-generated content, such as a false claim that pornography worsened the Aids epidemic.