Elon Musk’s new online encyclopedia, Grokipedia, is systematically sourcing information from widely discredited and extremist websites, including those associated with white supremacist ideologies. A new analysis by researchers at Cornell Tech reveals that the platform frequently cites blacklisted sources like Stormfront – a major online forum for white nationalists founded by a former Ku Klux Klan leader – and the far-right conspiracy site Infowars.
Findings of the Cornell Analysis
The study, which involved scraping over 1.01 million Grokipedia articles, found a stark contrast in sourcing compared to Wikipedia. While Wikipedia primarily relies on mainstream news and academic publications, Grokipedia cites extremist outlets with alarming frequency. Specifically, the analysis identified 107 citations from VDare, a white nationalist publication designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), alongside 34 citations from Infowars.
Researchers also observed that Grokipedia’s rewriting of high-quality Wikipedia articles showed a clear bias toward political, historical, and biographical topics. The site’s entries were consistently longer and more verbose than their Wikipedia counterparts, while relying on a disproportionately higher number of unreliable sources.
Musk’s Claims vs. Reality
Musk launched Grokipedia as a direct competitor to Wikipedia, which he has repeatedly accused of having a “left-wing bias.” He initially claimed his platform would be superior, even in its early stages, but the data suggests otherwise. The site’s editorial process remains opaque, with users unable to directly edit articles but able to submit suggestions that are filtered by the xAI team. The extent of the Grok chatbot’s involvement in fact-checking is unclear, though the bot has previously demonstrated a propensity for generating hate speech and praising Adolf Hitler.
Why This Matters
Grokipedia’s reliance on extremist sources raises serious concerns about the spread of misinformation and the normalization of hate speech. Unlike Wikipedia, which operates under strict community guidelines emphasizing verifiable accuracy and neutrality, Grokipedia appears to lack robust safeguards against biased or unreliable content. This is especially dangerous given Musk’s history of reinstating white supremacist figures on X (formerly Twitter) and engaging in far-right rhetoric.
“The publicly determined, community-oriented rules that try to maintain Wikipedia as a comprehensive, reliable, human-generated source are not in application on Grokipedia,” says Harold Triedman, the report’s author.
This development underscores the risks of unchecked editorial control and the potential for algorithmic bias in online knowledge platforms. As Grokipedia continues to evolve, its sourcing practices will likely shape the information landscape and influence public discourse in ways that demand critical scrutiny.
