Elon Musk’s AI firm, xAI, has launched Grokipedia, a new online encyclopedia positioned as a rival to Wikipedia. Musk, as per reports, claim that the so-called Grokipedia is a more "truthful" alternative to Wikipedia. However, netizens on Musk's X don't seem too pleased with the product and have taken to slamming how it allegedly "rips off directly from Wikipedia, word for word, formatting, structure, the whole thing". Here's all you need to know.
The Grokipedia site went live Monday in what Musk called "version 0.1," with over 885,000 articles already published. By comparison, English-language Wikipedia hosts more than seven million entries. Musk said a major upgrade, "version 1.0," is coming soon and will be "10X better" than the current site.
"The goal of Grok and Grokipedia.com is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth." Musk wrote on X, the platform he owns. "We will never be perfect, but we shall nonetheless strive towards that goal". In another post on Tuesday, he wrote that "Grokipedia.com is fully open source, so anyone can use it for anything at no cost". He also described the goal as “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”
According to AFP, Musk delayed Grokipedia's initial rollout, which had originally been slated for late September, claiming he wanted to “purge out the propaganda” before launch.
The billionaire has long accused Wikipedia of political bias, claiming it was "controlled by far-left activists". Earlier this year, he argued the site should not be used as a "definitive source" for X's Community Notes, saying its editorial control was "extremely left-biased".
Wikipedia, created in 2001, describes itself as a neutral, collaborative encyclopedia edited by volunteers worldwide. It is managed by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation and funded mostly through public donations.
Unlike Wikipedia, which relies on volunteer editors and community moderation, Grokipedia is powered by Musk’s AI assistant Grok, integrated into X. The platform automatically generates and updates entries using AI models trained by xAI.
However, netizens were quick to slam Grokipedia for ripping off "directly from Wikipedia, word for word, formatting, structure, the whole thing". Others have flagged the flaws. One user responded to Musk, writing, “If you put a page from Grokipedia through Grok and asked for the flaws and logical fallacies in the page, it will give you ALL of the flaws. This is embarrassing.”
Others, meanwhile, lauded the launch, pointing out the difference between the articles on Wikipedia and Grokipedia.
Source: WION