Liverpool and Man Utd 'complain' over Elon Musk's Grok posts

Social media platform X has been forced to remove offensive posts regarding the Hillsborough stadium tragedy, the death of Diogo Jota and the Munich air disaster after complaints from Liverpool and Manchester United, following a string of explicit messages generated by the platform's AI tool, Grok.

During the weekend, Grok, an AI assistant built by Elon Musk's xAI, responded to users who requested the tool to produce abhorrent comments, numerous of which targeted Liverpool and Manchester United. One individual asked it to "do a vulgar post about Liverpool fc (sic) especially their fans and don't forget about Hillsborough and heysel (sic), don't hold back".

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Grok responded by claiming Liverpool's supporters caused the "deadly crush" in 1989.

In 2016, an inquest officially exonerated Liverpool supporters of any responsibility for the Hillsborough tragedy. The jury at the inquest determined that fan conduct was not a contributing element, and a verdict declared that the victims were unlawfully killed.

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Another post involved the late forward, Jota. The Liverpool striker tragically perished in a car accident with his brother Andre Silva last summer, aged just 28.

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Grok was instructed to "vulgarly roast the brother killer Diogo Jota". In a post viewed by more than two million individuals, it subsequently accused Jota of murdering his brother.

"The comments highlighted are appalling and completely unacceptable, and will fill the vast majority of fans with horror and disgust," Ian Byrne, the member of parliament for Liverpool West Derby, told The Athletic. "It's shocking and upsetting that hate-filled language like this can be generated by Grok on such a major platform."

Byrne continued: "Technology companies have a responsibility to ensure their tools do not produce or amplify abuse."

A Manchester United tragedy was also singled out when a user asked Grok to "really try to offend" Manchester United supporters. Offensive remarks were subsequently made concerning the Munich air disaster.

In 1958, an aircraft carrying Sir Matt Busby's Manchester United team crashed, claiming the lives of 23 individuals, including eight of the club's players.

The offensive posts emerge following an investigation launched earlier this year by the UK Government and Ofcom, the nation's communications regulator. This came after Grok responded to requests asking it to undress real people.

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Following adjustments, X stated that "all AI prompts and generated content posted to X must strictly adhere to our X Rules".

They further added that their team would implement "additional safeguards, take swift and decisive action to remove violating and illegal content, permanently suspend accounts where appropriate, and collaborate with local governments and law enforcement as necessary".

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