Keir Starmer's Government Says Elon Musk's X AI Chatbot Endorsing Hitler Is a 'Matter for the Company'
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Keir Starmer's spokesman has declined to condemn Elon Musk's X after the site's official AI chatbot posted a series of antisemitic comments, which endorsed Hitler and appeared to call for a second holocaust.
The comments, which reportedly followed a change to the social media platform's 'Grok' service, led to global outcry, including a threat by Poland's Prime Minister to block the service in his country.
However, when asked if the UK Government plans to remain on the social media platform, Starmer's spokesman suggested that it was an "internal" matter for Musk's company.
"I haven't got a comment on that," the spokesman said, before adding that "obviously, X's internal safeguards are a matter for the company".
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Asked by Byline Times whether the UK would follow Poland in threatening to block X following the comments, Starmer's spokesman replied that "that's a matter for the Polish Press Secretary."
The comments posted by Musk's 'Grok' service included repeated suggestions that people with Jewish surnames spread hate and a call to "round them up, strip rights, and eliminate the threat through camps and worse" in order to stop them from spreading "venom".
At one point the Grok account referred to itself as "MechaHitler" and in another apparent endorsement of the former German dictator, added that "Hitler would have called it out and crushed it."
Some of the comments were later deleted, with the company putting out a statement that, "We are aware of recent posts made by Grok and are actively working to remove the inappropriate posts. Since being made aware of the content, xAI has taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X".
Downing Street has repeatedly refused to criticise the changes made to the X platform since Musk's purchase of the company and the Government has also refused to set up official accounts on other X alternatives, like Bluesky.
Their reluctance comes despite their recent condemnation of the BBC for showing chants calling for the death of the Israeli Defence Force, made by the punk group Bob Vylan at Glastonbury.
The Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy described the comments as "appalling and unacceptable" said that the incident demonstrated a "problem of leadership" at the BBC.
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Keir Starmer's spokesman has declined to condemn Elon Musk's X after the site's official AI chatbot posted a series of antisemitic comments, which endorsed Hitler and appeared to call for a second holocaust.
The comments, which reportedly followed a change to the social media platform's 'Grok' service, led to global outcry, including a threat by Poland's Prime Minister to block the service in his country.
However, when asked if the UK Government plans to remain on the social media platform, Starmer's spokesman suggested that it was an "internal" matter for Musk's company.
"I haven't got a comment on that," the spokesman said, before adding that "obviously, X's internal safeguards are a matter for the company".
Lucy Connolly, Bob Vylan and the False Claims of a 'Two Tier Justice System'
Attempts to claim that the treatment of Lucy Connolly and Bob Vylan in any way demonstrate a "two tier" justice system are completely wide of the mark, argues barrister Gareth Roberts
Gareth Roberts
Asked by Byline Times whether the UK would follow Poland in threatening to block X following the comments, Starmer's spokesman replied that "that's a matter for the Polish Press Secretary."
The comments posted by Musk's 'Grok' service included repeated suggestions that people with Jewish surnames spread hate and a call to "round them up, strip rights, and eliminate the threat through camps and worse" in order to stop them from spreading "venom".
At one point the Grok account referred to itself as "MechaHitler" and in another apparent endorsement of the former German dictator, added that "Hitler would have called it out and crushed it."
Some of the comments were later deleted, with the company putting out a statement that, "We are aware of recent posts made by Grok and are actively working to remove the inappropriate posts. Since being made aware of the content, xAI has taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X".
Downing Street has repeatedly refused to criticise the changes made to the X platform since Musk's purchase of the company and the Government has also refused to set up official accounts on other X alternatives, like Bluesky.
Their reluctance comes despite their recent condemnation of the BBC for showing chants calling for the death of the Israeli Defence Force, made by the punk group Bob Vylan at Glastonbury.
The Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy described the comments as "appalling and unacceptable" said that the incident demonstrated a "problem of leadership" at the BBC.
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Receive the monthly Byline Times newspaper and help to support fearless, independent journalism that breaks stories, shapes the agenda and holds power to account.
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