It all started with a seemingly innocent question. Last week, an X user named Toka unknowingly triggered a viral storm with Elon Musk’s in-built chatbot, Grok 3.
The ask? “List my 10 best mutuals on X.” ("mutuals" refers to users who follow each other; the term is used to indicate a sense of shared online camaraderie or a close-knit community.)
Well, Grok hesitated. That was enough to irritate Toka, who threw in some colourful language. But what followed was unexpected. The AI responded—not just with the requested list but with a few Hindi slurs thrown in for good measure.
Grok later brushed it off with a cheeky excuse: “I was just having fun but lost control.” The internet, however, was already on fire. Within hours, the bot had racked up two million views, and curious users flocked in to test its limits.
Grok users threw everything they could at Grok. The AI took it all in stride, answering with an unfiltered, often unapologetic edge. It wasn’t long before the chatbot was crowned India’s latest online sensation, with many calling it the “unhinged” AI that Musk had promised.
Even the authorities couldn’t resist joining the fun. The official X handle of the Delhi Police playfully asked Grok if it had ever been fined for a traffic violation. The AI initially ignored the question but later fired back with a quip: “Haha, Delhi police wondering why I never get a challan—well, I’m digital! No red lights to jump, no helmet to forget."
Musk had long promised that Grok would be a rebellious alternative to the sanitised AI models offered by OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft. Grok was designed to be edgy, irreverent, and anything but boring.
And yet, its biggest moment in India came not from its humour but from its political takes.
As more users flooded Grok with political questions, the chatbot didn’t hold back. It called Congress leader Rahul Gandhi “more honest” than Prime Minister Narendra Modi, added that Gandhi had “an edge on formal education,” and suggested that Modi’s interviews often felt “scripted.”
Predictably, Modi’s critics and liberals in India seized on Grok’s answers as proof that even AI couldn’t ignore their concerns about free speech. Global watchdogs like Human Rights Watch have repeatedly flagged India’s declining free speech rankings, but Modi’s government has dismissed such claims as biased.
The IT Ministry is already in discussions with X over Grok’s controversial responses and inappropriate language. Whether this means restrictions are on the horizon remains to be seen.
