The AI-generated false headline was promoted by X in its official trending news section.

A shocking story was promoted on the “front page” or main feed of Elon Musk’s X on Thursday:

“Iran Strikes Tel Aviv with Heavy Missiles,” read the headline.

This would certainly be a worrying world news development. Earlier that week, Israel had conducted an airstrike on Iran’s embassy in Syria, killing two generals as well as other officers. Retaliation from Iran seemed like a plausible occurrence.

But, there was one major problem: Iran did not attack Israel. The headline was fake.

Even more concerning, the fake headline was apparently generated by X’s own official AI chatbot, Grok, and then promoted by X’s trending news product, Explore, on the very first day of an updated version of the feature.

  • FlashMobOfOneEnglish
    80·
    6 months ago

    Yup, and I hate that.

    I really would like to one day just take road trips everywhere without having to actually drive.

    • neatcheeEnglish
      51·
      6 months ago6 months ago

      Right? Waymo is already several times safer than humans and tesla’s garbage, yet municipalities keep refusing them. Trust is a huge problem for them.

      And yes, haters, I know that they still have problems in inclement weather but that’s kinda the point: we would be much further along if it weren’t for the unreasonable hurdles they keep facing because of fear created by Tesla

    • humorlessrepostEnglish
      20·
      6 months ago6 months ago

      For road trips (i.e. interstates and divided highways), GM’s Super Cruise is pretty much there unless you go through a construction zone. I just went from Atlanta to Knoxville without touching the steering wheel once.

      • FlashMobOfOneEnglish
        10·
        6 months ago

        I’ll look into that when my Kia passes away. Thank you!

    • yessikgEnglish
      11·
      6 months ago

      Trains are really good for that