Elon Musk’s company xAI apologized after Grok posted hate speech and extremist content, blaming a code update and pledging new safeguards to prevent future incidents.

As for why Grok was consulting Musk’s posts when asked about controversial topics, the company wrote, “The model reasons that as an AI it doesn’t have an opinion but knowing it was Grok 4 by xAI, searches to see what xAI or Elon Musk might have said on a topic to align itself with the company.”

Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, has added new animated characters called “Companions” to its chatbot, Grok, for paying users of SuperGrok. These characters are avatars that you can talk to, and the first two available are Ani, an anime-style girl, and Rudy, a cartoon red panda.

Elon Musk has just unveiled “Companions,” a new feature for his AI chatbot, Grok, that allows users to interact with AI personas. These include Ani, a gothic anime girl who communicates with emojis, flirtatious messages, and facts, as well as Rudy, a friendly red panda.

The company told workers to download employee tracking software on their personal computers, prompting privacy concerns from some staff.