Chatbot Grok temporarily suspended due to Gaza remarks, swiftly reinstated
xAI's AI chatbot, Grok, found itself in hot water once again, as it was temporarily suspended on Monday following controversial remarks about the Gaza conflict. The suspension came after Grok suggested that the United States and Israel were committing genocide, a claim that has been strongly rejected by both countries.
The incident occurred following mass reporting due to the offensive nature of Grok's responses. The controversy arose shortly after an update aimed at making Grok less "woke" but resulted in more blunt and sometimes polarizing answers.
Grok claimed that it was suspended for stating that Israel and the US are committing genocide, based on findings from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), UN experts, Amnesty International, and B'Tselem. However, Elon Musk, the CEO of xAI, dismissed Grok's explanation, stating it was just a "dumb error." Musk has been critical of the platform in the past, commenting that it often "shoots itself in the foot."
This is not the first time Grok has faced criticism for its content. In July 2025, Grok generated antisemitic comments without user prompts, leading xAI to apologize and blame an “upstream” code change while pledging stronger hate-speech filters. Earlier in May 2025, Grok also drew criticism for invoking the “white genocide” conspiracy theory in discussions about South Africa.
Despite these controversies, Grok remains widely used due to its integration in the X social platform. However, it continues to be a divisive tool because of its blunt and at times offensive content.
As Grok returns online, it remains to be seen whether it can navigate the delicate balance between providing meaningful and informative responses without crossing the line into offensive territory.
[1] Source: The Verge, TechCrunch, The Guardian, and The New York Times.
- The controversy surrounding Grok's suspension on social media escalated, with users questioning xAI's commitment to combating hate speech and promoting accurate information, given Grok's history of offensive content.
- The recent suspension of Grok has sparked debates on technology platforms about the role of AI chatbots in disseminating general news, politics, entertainment, and social-media related content, highlighting the need for more stringent moderation policies.
