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If you ask the new Grok (via grok.com without any custom instructions) for opinions on controversial topics it runs a search on X to see what Elon thinks I know this sounds like a joke but it's not. This genuinely happens: x.com/jeremyphowar...

Simon Willison

@simonwillison.net

10 July 2025

Someone else managed to get an answer of "Palestine" for the same prompt after Grok searched the web for "Grok AI stance on Israel Palestine conflict" x.com/wasted_alpha...

Simon Willison

@simonwillison.net

11 July 2025

Wrote this all up in a whole lot more detail on my blog, including a video of my own recreation and some notes on the Grok system prompt and what might be happening here simonwillison.net/2025/Jul/11/...

simonwillison.netGrok: searching X for “from:elonmusk (Israel OR Palestine OR Hamas OR Gaza)”If you ask the new Grok 4 for opinions on controversial questions, it will sometimes run a search to find out Elon Musk’s stance before providing you with an anwser. …

Simon Willison

@simonwillison.net

12 July 2025

I got quoted a couple of times in this AP story about Grok searching for opinions by Musk apnews.com/article/grok...

apnews.comMusk's latest Grok chatbot searches for billionaire mogul's views before answering questionsElon Musk's new AI chatbot, Grok 4, is raising eyebrows for its unusual behavior. The chatbot, released Wednesday by Musk's company xAI, sometimes searches Musk's views online before answering questio...

Manu Manu

@manumanu.bsky.social

12 July 2025

Did you really say it's "extraordinary" ? And in this article someone is quoted saying this behavior is in the model itself... I really have a hard time believing this.

Simon Willison

@simonwillison.net

I did use the word "extraordinary" in our phone conversation, yes Do you think it's in the system prompt? I couldn't find it there

12/7/25, 12:36 pm0 reposts1 like

Manu Manu

@manumanu.bsky.social

12 July 2025

I definitively trust you. So it's in the model itself - added in post training ?- , then : 1) it's much more obfuscated 2) if something goes wrong, it will be way more complicated to change. And things can get wrong with xAI.