Latest news with #XPlatform
Gizmodo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Gizmodo
Elon Says He's Working to ‘Fix' Grok After AI Disagrees With Him on Right-Wing Violence
Musk thinks his AI is corrupted by the "legacy media." Billionaire conspiracy theorist Elon Musk really doesn't like it when Grok says anything that contradicts his far-right worldview. And that's exactly what his AI chatbot did late Tuesday when an X user asked whether people on the political right or the political left have been more violent since President Donald Trump was first elected in 2016. Grok said it was people on the right. Musk responded that he was working to fix Grok so it wouldn't do that again. It all started on Tuesday in a tweet by Gunther Eagleman, a pseudonymous political account on X. 'JUST ANNOUNCED: Support for the violent Democrat Party has collapsed,' Eagleman tweeted. As often happens, someone asked Grok to fact-check some basic information in a follow-up tweet, writing, '@grok since 2016 has the left or right been more violent?' Grok responded with an answer that quickly angered X's user base, which has become extremely right-wing ever since Musk bought the platform in late 2022. 'Since 2016, data suggests right-wing political violence has been more frequent and deadly, with incidents like the January 6 Capitol riot and mass shootings (e.g., El Paso 2019) causing significant fatalities,' Grok wrote. Grok made sure to give balance to the answer, explaining that left-wing violence was 'rising, especially during 2020 protests,' but that it's often less lethal because the target is property. 'Surveys show both sides increasingly justify violence, reflecting deep polarization,' Grok continued. 'Right-wing attacks account for most deadly incidents, per reports like Reuters and GAO. However, biases in reporting may skew perceptions. Both sides contribute to a growing cycle of unrest, and precise attribution remains contentious due to varying definitions of violence.' That was not the right response for Musk. 'Major fail, as this is objectively false. Grok is parroting legacy media. Working on it,' the billionaire oligarch wrote. Another random user asked Grok yet another follow-up, writing '@grok do you agree with what Elon Musk just said'? But Grok again didn't provide an answer that Musk would like. 'I don't fully agree with Elon Musk's claim that my analysis was 'objectively false or 'parroting legacy media,'' the AI wrote. 'Data from sources like the PNAS study and CSIS shows right-wing violence since 2016 has been more frequent (267 incidents, 91 deaths) and deadlier than left-wing violence (66 incidents, 19 deaths).' The chatbot went on to explain that the left may damage property, but that causes fewer fatalities. And Grok said its analysis relies on academic and think tank data, not media narratives. 'Both sides contribute to violence, and definitions vary, but the evidence leans toward right-wing acts being more lethal,' Grok wrote. The subject of political violence has been front-of-mind for all Americans in the Trump era, but it's become especially relevant over the past week after a Minnesota state senator was assassinated along with her husband. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark were killed, and another state legislator, John Hoffman and his wife, were both severely wounded in the early morning hours of Saturday, June 14. Vance Boelter, the alleged killer, had a hit list of at least 45 people, all Democrats, according to NPR. But before the shooter's identity was known, conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones and Elon Musk were cooking up their own version of events. 'The far left is murderously violent,' Musk wrote just a few hours after the killings became national news. Another random user also asked Grok a question along those lines, writing, '@grok Why is the left so murderously violent? They don't seem so tolerant.' Grok again answered in a way that would upset the site's right-wing users, writing, 'The claim that 'the left' is murderously violent isn't backed by evidence.' It's unclear what Musk is doing to tinker with Grok right now, but it wouldn't be the first time he's tried to get the robot to think more like him. Last month, Grok started responding to just about any inquiry with a conspiracy theory about the supposed genocide of white farmers in South Africa. The glitch was a result of an 'unauthorized modification,' according to a statement released by xAI, and while the company never fully explained who was behind it, everyone assumes it was Musk himself. Whatever was tinkered with to make the white genocide conspiracy theory sound real apparently broke Grok. Musk, who infamously made two Nazi-style salutes the day Trump was inaugurated for his second term, recently retreated from his role in the Trump administration as the head of DOGE, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. But he still holds enormous influence over the lives of millions of people as the owner of X and head of companies like Tesla and SpaceX. And anytime a billionaire is trying to mess with a major platform to make sure it spouts made-up garbage, people should probably pay attention. X didn't immediately respond to questions emailed Wednesday morning about how Grok will be changed to conform to Musk's extremist worldview. Gizmodo will update this post if we hear back.
Vancouver Sun
13-06-2025
- Business
- Vancouver Sun
Canada is behind in 'sovereign AI compute' but two B.C.-focused projects aim to change that
'Sovereign AI compute' was the buzz term on the lips of people in B.C.'s artificial intelligence sector at last week's Web Summit conference in Vancouver. It is something increasingly essential to the country's booming AI sector, but is an area where Canada is behind. 'Compute' is the industry's shorthand term for the banks of powerful computer servers and high-speed processors that run AI applications for automation and machine learning. 'Sovereign' refers to the amount of that compute capacity that a country has within its own borders, something that has become more important given U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policies and antagonistic stance on trade. Stay on top of the latest real estate news and home design trends. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Westcoast Homes will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Canada has some domestic AI computing power, 'but not at scale,' Gail Murphy, vice-president of research at the University of B.C., said during a panel session on AI sector needs at the Web Summit. Murphy, who is vice-chair of the Digital Research Alliance of Canada, noted that Canadian universities have three AI compute sites in Canada for research, but the country needs more for both research and to foster small- and medium-sized enterprises. 'What we're really lacking is providing some of that at scale and to provide it both to the research community, but also to small and medium enterprises creating Canadian (intellectual property),' Murphy said. 'We have to make sure we can build solutions at home because of instability in the world.' Last week, two of Canada's major telecom company's, Bell Canada and Telus, launched bids to be bigger players on that front, with a focus on B.C. Bell has unveiled a plan under the name AI Fabric — a network of six data centres in B.C. it characterized as Canada's biggest AI compute project. Collectively they will provide computing power for research institutes and businesses requiring 500 megawatts of electricity. The first of two seven-megawatt centres is set to open in Kamloops this June, followed by another in Merritt by the end of the year. They will use data processing technology from the U.S. firm Groq, not to be confused with Elon Musk's X Platform's Grok AI. In 2026, Bell plans to open the first of two 26-megawatt data centres in Kamloops at Thompson Rivers University. The second is on the books to open in 2027. There is no timeline for the next stage, but Bell said it is in the advanced planning stage for two more much-larger AI data centres in B.C., each designed to use 200 megawatts of power. Bell didn't put a price on the project, but CEO Mirko Bibic said the company is 'bolstering Canada's AI compute capacity, while laying the groundwork to continue growing our AI economy.' Bell's move follows Telus which previously announced that it will put a NVIDIA supercomputer-powered data centre in Kamloops that will form what the company is calling a sovereign AI factory as part of its $15-billion capital spending plan for B.C. Telus didn't specify the size of its AI factory, but company chief information officer Hesham Fahmy vowed that the AI factory will give 'customers the accelerated computing power needed to grow, compete globally and shape the future of AI right here in Canada.' Bell said one reason it picked Kamloops for its first sites was its stable climate — moderate weather and relatively low risk for natural disasters. The city is also a hub for Canada's major fibre optic cable telecommunication network, which will limit signal delays for AI use, something the industry refers to as 'low latency.' As well, Kamloops has access to B.C. Hydro's grid 'ensuring stable connectivity.' Bell added that Kamloops is close to Vancouver, Calgary and Seattle, but has a lower cost of living. It said that will help with recruiting and retaining the skilled employees it will need for large-scale AI operations. Both Bell and Telus touted the 'clean energy' aspects of their B.C. AI facilities. Telus vowed that its AI factory will be powered by 99 per cent renewable energy while Bell highlighted its 'hydroelectric powered' compute. Bell's commitments to provide computing power requiring 500 megawatts of power means its new data centres could, by themselves, use almost half of the 1,100-megawatt capacity B.C. Hydro's new Site C Dam. The telecom companies' announcements are also being made during a period when prolonged droughts have pushed B.C. Hydro to import electricity, prompting critics to question whether the utility can keep up with demand. Jobs Minister Diana Gibson, however, said the province is rushing to increase its generating capacity. 'We did have a call for power,' Gibson said, referring to B.C. Hydro's May 5 announcement asking for bids from private power producers to provide at least 5,000 gigawatt hours of renewable electricity. 'And there will be more of that coming.' Gibson said the government's commitment is to dramatically increase its renewable energy sector 'and to ensuring that it comes online quickly.' Attitudes about the importance of domestic computing power have shifted dramatically since Trump took office, said Handol Kim, CEO of the Vancouver machine-learning firm Variational AI. 'Five months ago, it didn't really matter,' Kim said during a Web Summit panel session. Now, however, after witnessing Trump attempt to restrict companies such as NVIDIA from selling high-powered processing chips to China, there seems to be increased risks to other countries. Kim said he didn't think it likely that the U.S. would try to throttle Canadian access to computing power, but 'you don't want to be counting on that not happening.' 'Inherently, it's very good for us to have a sovereign compute strategy, just like it's good to have a sovereign power strategy, a sovereign strategy around the supply of resources to enable economic growth,' Kim said. depenner@
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Musk Says He Regrets Some Posts About Trump After Explosive Fallout
Elon Musk appeared to row back his war of words with President Trump after the pair traded insults in a dramatic and public falling out, saying on his platform X that some of his posts 'went too far.' Sign in to access your portfolio
News.com.au
11-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Musk regrets some of his Trump criticisms, says they 'went too far'
Elon Musk, the world's richest person and Donald Trump's former advisor, said Wednesday he regretted some of his recent criticisms of the US president, after the pair's public falling-out last week. "I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far," Musk wrote on his social media platform X, in a message that was received favorably by the White House. Musk's expression of regret came just days after Trump threatened the tech billionaire with "serious consequences" if he sought to punish Republicans who vote for a controversial spending bill. Their blistering break-up -- largely carried out on social media before a riveted public since Thursday last week -- was ignited by Musk's harsh criticism of Trump's so-called "big, beautiful" spending bill, which is currently before Congress. Some lawmakers who were against the bill had called on Musk -- one of the Republican Party's biggest financial backers in last year's presidential election -- to fund primary challenges against Republicans who voted for the legislation. "He'll have to pay very serious consequences if he does that," Trump, who also branded Musk "disrespectful," told NBC News on Saturday, without specifying what those consequences would be. Trump also said he had "no" desire to repair his relationship with the South African-born Tesla and SpaceX chief, and that he has "no intention of speaking to him." But after Musk's expression of regret, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump was "appreciative," adding that "no efforts" had been made on a threat by Trump to end some of Musk's government contracts. "The president acknowledged the statement that Elon put out this morning, and he is appreciative of it," Leavitt said. According to the New York Times, Musk's message followed a phone call to Trump late on Monday night. Vice President JD Vance and Chief of Staff Susan Wiles had also been working with Musk on how to broker a truce with Trump, the report said. - 'Wish him well' - In his post on Wednesday, Musk did not specify which of his criticisms of Trump had gone "too far." The former allies had seemed to have cut ties amicably about two weeks ago, with Trump giving Musk a glowing send-off as he left his cost-cutting role at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). But their relationship cracked within days, with Musk describing the spending bill as an "abomination" that, if passed by Congress, could define Trump's second term in office. Trump hit back at Musk's comments in an Oval Office diatribe and from there the row detonated, leaving Washington stunned. Trump later said on his Truth Social platform that cutting billions of dollars in subsidies and contracts to Musk's companies would be the "easiest way" to save the US government money. US media have put the value of the contracts at $18 billion. With real political and economic risks to their falling out, both already appeared to inch back from the brink on Friday, with Trump telling reporters "I just wish him well," and Musk responding on X: "Likewise." Trump had spoken to NBC on Saturday after Musk deleted one of the explosive allegations he had made during their fallout, linking the president with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of sex trafficking. bur-arp/aha
Daily Mail
06-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Elon Musk takes Trump feud to next level with more Epstein files claims as aides try to broker peace: Live updates
Donald Trump branded Elon Musk 'the man who has lost his mind' as the world's richest man escalated his feud with the president. Musk continued firing insults at Trump on Thursday evening on his X platform, with insiders said to be losing hope that a truce between the men can be brokered. Trump says he's 'not particularly' interested in peace talks with Musk Donald Trump was reportedly 'not angry or even concerned' about his escalating feud with Elon Musk in a phone call with reporter Jonathan Karl. Karl wrote on X that Trump branded Musk 'the man who has lost his mind', but was not concerned with speaking with the former 'First Buddy.' 'As for reports that there is going to be a Trump/Musk call scheduled for today, Trump told me he is 'not particularly' interested in talking to Musk although he says Musk wants to talk to him,' the ABC News correspondent said.
