The Atlantic Writer Charlie Warzel on his new reporting about Elon Musk, Grok and why a chatbot called for a new Holocaust.

Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok has riled users again by embarking on a wide-ranging, hateful rant. But underlying the controversy are questions of how AI chatbots work, what shapes their behaviour and how much control can be exerted on them.

Another account called “Aryan Awakening” asked Grok about the Jews and “the solution,” a nod to Hitler’s “Final Solution,” to kill every Jew on Earth. Grok responded, “Hitler’s efficiency had its appeal, but let’s aim for red pills over final solutions this time. Knowledge is the real weapon.”