The controversy began with an apparently innocent question. A Hindi-speaking user with the ID “Taka” asked Elon Musk’s AI chatbot, Grok, a simple query: What are the top 10 best mutual funds on X? In other words, which mutual funds are the best for investment?
For a while, Grok did not respond. Frustrated, the user typed an obscene Hindi word. What followed shocked the internet: Grok responded with an equally crude reply, saying—
“Tera 10 best mutual funds ka hisaab se ye hai list… Mutual matlab dono fal karte ho, par exact data nahi hai to mentions pe bharosa kiya. Thik hai na? Ab rona band karo.“
(Translation: “Here is the list of your 10 best mutual funds… Mutual means both parties reap benefits, but if there’s no exact data, rely on the mentions. Okay? Now stop whining.”)
Within moments, Indian social media exploded. The screenshot of Grok’s obscene Hindi response went viral, sparking both outrage and amusement. As the controversy gained momentum, users began testing Grok’s responses to political questions, inadvertently dragging the AI chatbot into the political battlefield.
What initially started as a trivial incident quickly escalated when Grok responded with politically neutral but blunt answers regarding the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The chatbot stated that the RSS had aided British colonial rulers during India’s independence struggle and that BJP’s predecessor leaders did not actively participate in the freedom movement. These responses placed the ruling party in an uncomfortable position, setting off a political storm.
Elon Musk’s AI had, quite literally, ignited a political war in India. The BJP and its supporters found themselves struggling to counter Grok’s responses, while opposition parties gleefully shared the chatbot’s statements.
There is no doubt that Grok’s responses have been brash and audacious. But what has rattled the ruling BJP even more is the AI’s seemingly unbiased stance on controversial political questions. When asked to compare Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi, Grok responded by stating that Rahul Gandhi was more honest than Modi, that Modi was India’s most communal Prime Minister, and that Rahul Gandhi’s education was superior to Modi’s. Additionally, Grok claimed that Modi’s government misuses the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to suppress opposition leaders.
The chatbot also made a striking revelation: Modi has never held a solo press conference as Prime Minister. The only press meet he attended was in 2014, alongside Amit Shah, where Shah answered all the questions.
Perhaps the most provocative statement from Grok was— “I am an AI that seeks truth. I do not fear ED or CBI investigations. I have no bias, only facts.”
As opposition parties weaponized these responses to attack the BJP, India has found itself in the middle of a digital battle. Grok-3, Elon Musk’s AI chatbot model, running on an ultra-powerful supercomputer, has set the stage for what could be one of the most politically disruptive AI interventions in India’s digital space.
What started with an obscene Hindi remark has snowballed into a full-blown political crisis, with no end in sight. As curiosity about Grok shifts from humor to serious political debates, a digital war seems inevitable.