The Tech Mogul’s “Non-Woke” Encyclopedia Validates Conspiracy Theories, Flatters Its Creator, and Undermines Objective Knowledge
- From Fan to Foe: Elon Musk once celebrated Wikipedia as a democratizing force for global knowledge, but his growing right-wing views turned it into a target, leading to the creation of Grokipedia as a biased alternative.
- Biased AI Overhaul: Built by xAI using the Grok model, Grokipedia copies much of Wikipedia’s content but alters entries to downplay controversies around Musk, whitewash far-right figures, and lend credence to debunked conspiracy theories.
- Broader Dangers: This AI-powered platform exemplifies the risks of tech billionaires shaping information ecosystems, potentially spreading misinformation under the guise of authority and exacerbating societal divisions.
Elon Musk‘s relationship with Wikipedia has undergone a dramatic transformation, mirroring his own ideological evolution from a tech visionary to a vocal proponent of far-right politics. Back in January 2021, on the encyclopedia’s 20th anniversary, Musk took to X (then Twitter) with a heartfelt message: “Happy birthday Wikipedia! So glad you exist.” At the time, he seemed to appreciate the site’s role as an invaluable, crowd-sourced repository of human knowledge, accessed by over a billion users monthly and maintained by tens of thousands of volunteer editors under the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation. This noble undertaking had, in Musk’s apparent view, democratized information worldwide, making facts freely available to anyone with an internet connection.
However, Musk’s admiration soured quickly as his personal grievances mounted. By the end of 2021, he was publicly lambasting the Wikipedia article about himself as a “dumpster fire” and poorly curated, quipping that “‘History is written by the victors’ except on Wikipedia, as your enemies are still alive & have lots of time on their hands.” He repeated this jest periodically, signaling deeper frustrations. As Musk’s worldview shifted rightward—fueled by his acquisition of Twitter and its rebranding to X—he began accusing Wikipedia of ideological bias. In 2022, he claimed it was “losing its objectivity” and was “overly controlled by mainstream media,” tagging co-founder Jimmy Wales in his complaints. The press, increasingly a target for Musk, symbolized what he saw as a broader “woke mind virus” infecting institutions.
These accusations escalated in 2023, when Musk promoted X’s Community Notes as a superior alternative to Wikipedia, which he derided for its alleged “left-wing editorial control problem.” Ironically, a Community Note later debunked Musk’s false claim that the Wikimedia Foundation had negligible operating expenses and might be misusing donations for nefarious purposes. In a bizarre twist, Musk offered the foundation $1 billion to rename itself “Dickipedia” or adopt the nickname “Wokipedia,” tying into his anti-“woke” rhetoric. By 2024, amid his full-throated support for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, Musk raged against Wikipedia for challenging MAGA falsehoods. He called the site “broken” over a page debating whether Trump could be labeled a fascist and was furious when it accurately noted interpretations of his Inauguration Day gesture as resembling a Nazi salute—though he denied any such intent.
This crescendo of resentment culminated in the launch of Grokipedia on Monday, an AI-generated encyclopedia developed by Musk’s xAI using the Grok large language model integrated into X. Boasting around 900,000 articles, many lifted verbatim from Wikipedia, Grokipedia positions itself as a “better” alternative purged of “propaganda.” Yet, a closer look reveals stark alterations, particularly on topics tied to Musk’s life, allies, enemies, and political leanings. The page on Musk himself is a glowing testament: it omits any mention of the controversial salute, instead highlighting flattering details like his claimed 80-100 hour workweeks and a 20-pound weight loss via intermittent fasting. Embarrassing episodes, such as his spring feud with Trump—involving Musk’s invocation of Trump’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein—are downplayed to a mere “public disagreement” over policy.
Grokipedia’s biases extend far beyond self-flattery, often validating far-right narratives. For instance, it whitewashes figures like Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., avoiding Wikipedia’s upfront labeling of him as a conspiracy theorist and anti-vaccine activist. Instead, Grokipedia’s entry on “Vaccine opposition activism” softens the movement’s portrayal, noting only that proponents have been criticized for distorting data, without emphasizing the misinformation at its core. Conspiracy theories receive undue credence: the debunked Pizzagate hoax—about a supposed child sex ring run by liberal elites from a D.C. pizzeria—is described as “allegations,” a “hypothesis,” and a “narrative,” with the term “conspiracy theory” buried deep in the article. Even promoters like Mike Cernovich and Jack Posobiec are spared the label, presented merely as victims of “mainstream media” characterizations.
Musk’s personal vendettas shine through in other sections. His long-standing attacks on George Soros as a puppet-master of left-wing activism are echoed in a dedicated page on “Theories of George Soros’s influence,” which Wikipedia frames as antisemitic conspiracy theories. Similarly, the racist “Great Replacement” theory—claiming liberal elites are eroding white majorities through immigration—is treated as a valid, empirically supported idea, dismissing its white nationalist ties as media rhetoric. Grokipedia also amplifies Musk’s reactionary views on gender and sexuality: it claims the term “cisgender” “pathologizes normality,” citing far-right activist James Lindsay’s New Discourses site, which has smeared LGBTQ people as “groomers.” The “transgender” page speculates on “social contagion” as a driver of transitions, ignoring scientific evidence to the contrary, and even falsely asserts that pornography worsened the AIDS epidemic while suggesting social media fuels a rise in transgender identities.
From a broader perspective, Grokipedia represents more than just a pet project—it’s a symptom of the perils when tech billionaires wield unchecked influence over information. Unlike Wikipedia’s consensus-driven model, reliant on human editors striving for neutrality, Grokipedia is an AI-scraped mishmash of web content, rearranged and infused with Musk’s toxic worldview. This exacerbates the misconception that chatbots deliver objective truth, potentially spreading misinformation on a massive scale. In an era of eroding trust in institutions, such platforms could deepen societal divides, prioritizing ideology over facts. Musk’s attempt to “take down” Wikipedia underscores a larger battle for the soul of online knowledge: will it remain a collaborative public good, or become another tool for the powerful to reshape reality in their image? As Grokipedia pushes far-right talking points under the veneer of authority, it serves as a cautionary tale about the intersection of AI, bias, and billionaire ambition.