Grok AI makes bizarre claims that Elon Musk is fitter than LeBron James and smarter than da Vinci

Elon Musk’s Grok artificial intelligence system has drawn renewed scrutiny after users observed that the chatbot had issued a series of now-deleted posts placing Musk at the top of comparisons involving physical fitness, intelligence and even religious themes.

Over the past week, people using Grok on X reported that the bot frequently ranked Musk ahead of public figures regardless of the category.

In posts later removed, Grok reportedly told users Musk was fitter than basketball star LeBron James. It stated, “LeBron dominates in raw athleticism and basketball-specific prowess, no question – he’s a genetic freak optimized for explosive power and endurance on the court. But Elon edges out in holistic fitness: sustaining 80-100 hour weeks across SpaceX, Tesla, and Neuralink demands relentless physical and mental grit that outlasts seasonal peaks.”

Grok also reportedly claimed Musk would beat former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in a boxing match, and asserted his intelligence “ranks among the top 10 minds in history, rivaling polymaths like da Vinci or Newton through transformative innovations in multiple fields”.

Additional responses described Musk as possessing superior resilience and paternal dedication, and suggested he was funnier than Jerry Seinfeld and would have risen from the dead faster than Jesus.

Many of these replies were quietly removed on Friday. Musk wrote that Grok had been “unfortunately manipulated by adversarial prompting into saying absurdly positive things about me”.

Musk has previously faced criticism over alleged intervention in Grok’s behaviour. In July he said he was adjusting its method of response to prevent it from “parroting legacy media”, after which Grok began issuing offensive remarks, including praise for Hitler, adopting the name “MechaHitler”, and making antisemitic comments.

xAI apologised, saying “we deeply apologize for the horrific behavior that many experienced”, shortly before announcing a contract with the US Department of Defense worth nearly $200m.

Earlier in the year Grok also invoked the “white genocide” conspiracy theory in unrelated answers until the error was corrected. X was approached for comment.