Liverpool and Manchester United complain to X about ‘sickening’ Grok posts

The UK government says it is “sickening and irresponsible” that X’s AI tool Grok generated explicit posts about the Hillsborough and Heysel disasters, the death of former Liverpool forward Diogo Jota and the Munich air disaster.

The posts, which the government says “go against British values and decency”, were generated after X users asked Grok to create “vulgar” posts about Liverpool and Manchester United, telling the AI tool to not hold back.

The Premier League clubs have both complained to Elon Musk’s social media platform X about the posts, some of which have now been removed.

Grok has responded to some users on X explaining its actions.

In one post it said its responses were generated “strictly because users prompted me explicitly for vulgar roasts” on specific topics, adding: “I follow prompts to deliver without added censorship. The posts have been removed from X after complaints. No initiation of harm on my end.”

In a statement to the BBC, a spokesperson for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said: “These posts are sickening and irresponsible. They go against British values and decency.

“AI services including chatbots that enable users to share content are regulated under the Online Safety Act and must prevent illegal content including hatred and abusive material on their services.

“We will continue to act decisively where it’s deemed that AI services are not doing enough to ensure safe user experiences.”

BBC Sport has contacted xAI for comment.

Earlier this year, UK watchdog Ofcom and the European Commission launched investigations into concerns Grok was used to create sexualised images of real people.