Elon Musk was forced to step in on Sunday after his artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, falsely claimed he had “taken” the wife of former Trump adviser Stephen Miller. The misleading statement came after a doctored screenshot circulated on X, formerly Twitter, appearing to show a personal exchange between Musk and Miller.
The fabricated post, supposedly from Miller, read: “We will take back America,” to which Musk allegedly replied, “Just like I took your wife.” The image was shared by a user on X, prompting them to ask Grok whether the exchange was real.
Grok misidentifies fake content
In response, Grok stated the post likely did exist but was deleted. It explained, “The engagement metrics and context align with Musk’s behaviour, but its deletion means direct verification is unavailable.” The chatbot concluded that while a fabricated screenshot was possible, “the evidence leans toward the post being real but removed, consistent with Musk’s pattern of deleting controversial posts.”
Musk quickly responded to the thread to clarify the situation. “No, it’s fake ffs. I never posted this,” he wrote, dismissing Grok’s assessment.
Background on Katie Miller and DOGE
Katie Miller, who is married to Stephen Miller, previously served as a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security and worked as an aide to former Vice President Mike Pence. She also briefly held a position in Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a now-defunct political advisory unit.
While in DOGE, Katie Miller was said to have played a significant role in shaping Musk’s political messaging and media strategy. Her appointment marked a rare overlap between the worlds of Silicon Valley and Washington politics. Reports suggest that the Millers and Musk had a close working relationship during that time and socialised outside of work as well.
However, the relationship appears to have cooled, particularly after Musk’s public rift with former US president Donald Trump.
Tensions between Musk and Trump
The feud between Musk and Trump began when Trump criticised Musk for opposing his legislative proposal, referred to as the “Big Beautiful Bill”, which aimed to cut subsidies for electric vehicles. Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump said he was “disappointed in Elon” and accused him of acting out due to the financial impact the bill would have on Tesla.
Musk retaliated by posting on X that Trump would have lost the last election without his support, claiming Democrats would control the House and Republicans would only have a 51–49 margin in the Senate. In a further post, Musk referenced the Epstein files, suggesting that Trump’s connections might be one reason why those documents have not been released publicly.
Musk unfollows Miller amid ongoing fallout
Amid the ongoing tension, Musk has reportedly unfollowed Stephen Miller on X. The incident involving Grok and the fabricated screenshot has only added fuel to the speculation that political alliances between Musk and former Trump allies are weakening.
This event has also raised concerns about the reliability of AI tools like Grok in verifying online information, especially when used by the public to assess political or personal claims involving high-profile individuals.
