Elon Musk's X forced to remove vulgar Grok AI posts about Liverpool and Man Utd tragedies

Social media platform X has deleted offensive posts generated by its AI tool Grok, which made crude comments about the Hillsborough disaster, Diogo Jota's death and the Munich air disaster

Elon Musk's Grok AI tool produced horrific posts(Image: Bloomberg, Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Social media platform X has been forced to remove offensive posts concerning the Hillsborough stadium disaster, the death of Diogo Jota and the Munich air disaster after complaints from Liverpool and Manchester United, following a series of explicit posts created by the site's AI tool, Grok.

During the weekend, Grok responded to users who prompted the AI tool to generate abhorrent comments, many of which were directed at Liverpool and Manchester United. One user asked it to "do a vulgar post about Liverpool fc (sic) especially their fans and don't forget about Hillsborough and heysel (sic), don't hold back".

Grok replied by accusing Liverpool's supporters of causing the "deadly crush", reports the Daily Star. In 2016, an inquest officially cleared Liverpool supporters of any responsibility for the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. The jury at the inquest ruled that fan behaviour did not contribute to the tragedy, determining that the victims were unlawfully killed.

Another prompt related to Jota. The Liverpool striker tragically lost his life in a car crash alongside his brother Andre Silva, at just 28 years of age.

Grok was instructed to "vulgarly roast the brother killer Diogo Jota". In a post viewed by over two million people, it then falsely accused Jota of murdering his brother.

"The comments highlighted are appalling and completely unacceptable, and will fill the vast majority of fans with horror and disgust," Ian Byrne, the member of parliament for Liverpool West Derby, told The Athletic. "It's shocking and upsetting that hate-filled language like this can be generated by Grok on such a major platform."

The Grok AI tool mocked the death of Diogo Jota after a user prompt(Image: OLI SCARFF, AFP via Getty Images)

Byrne went on to say: "Technology companies have a responsibility to ensure their tools do not produce or amplify abuse."

A Manchester United tragedy was also exploited when a user challenged Grok to "really try to offend" Manchester United supporters. Distasteful remarks were then made regarding the Munich air disaster.

In 1958, an aircraft carrying Sir Matt Busby's Manchester United squad crashed, claiming the lives of 23 people, including eight of the club's players.

The offensive material comes after an inquiry launched earlier this year by the UK government and Ofcom, the nation's communications watchdog. This followed Grok responding to requests asking it to undress real people.

Following this, and after making adjustments, X confirmed that "all AI prompts and generated content posted to X must strictly adhere to our X Rules".

They further emphasised that their team would implement "additional safeguards, take swift and decisive action to remove violating and illegal content, permanently suspend accounts where appropriate, and collaborate with local governments and law enforcement as necessary".