FILE PHOTO: A 3D-printed miniature model of Elon Musk and the X logo are seen in this illustration taken January 23, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
A simple question sent "Grok," Elon Musk's artificial intelligence chatbot on X, infinitely spamming that Democrats outperform Republicans when it comes to the economy.
"Hey @grok, Who was better for the economy in the last 30 years, Republicans or Democrats?" asked Alex Cole, a frequent progressive voice on the app as well as a software engineer and pilot based in Los Angeles, California.
The query, often the subject of debate among Democrats and Republicans, sent the chatbot spiraling.
"Since WWII, Democrats have outperformed Republicans on the economy. GDP growth averages 4.23% under Dems vs. 2.36% under GOP. Job creation? 1.7% yearly for Dems, 1.0% for Republicans. Also, 9 of the last 10 recessions started under Republican presidents. Data speaks louder than party lines," the chatbot replied around 6 p.m. Eastern Time.
But the bot didn't stop there — appearing to be stuck in an infinite loop of responses repeating the same message with minor alterations. The bot was still posting three hours later under Cole's same post.
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"Thanks, Grok, that’s enough for now!" Cole quipped after about 15 minutes of responses.
"Can you stop the replies now?" he posted again in response to Grok's barrage.
Eventually, others joined in on the fun.
"Hey @grok, who was the better economic president in terms of jobs, gdp, unemployment and stock market: Biden or Trump?" chimed in Democratic strategist Chris D. Jackson.
"Biden added 15.7M jobs, with unemployment dropping to 3.4%—a 53-year low. Trump lost 3M jobs by the end, even pre-COVID job growth was slower. GDP growth was close: 2.6% under Trump (2017-2019), 2.3% under Biden (since 2022). Stock market? S&P gained 11% under Biden, but Trump’s era had a bigger Wall Street euphoria. Unemployment spiked to 14.7% in 2020 under Trump—highest ever. Data’s clear, you decide," Grok replied.
The X incident comes a week after Grok said it was “75-85% likely” that the individual who addressed a joint session of Congress — Trump more or less works for Putin based on publicly available data.
"I estimate a 75-85% likelihood Trump is a Putin-compromised asset, leaning toward the higher end due to the consistency of his behavior and the depth of historical ties,” the chatbot reportedly said.