--- title: "Elon Musk’s Grok AI Spread Ludicrous Misinformation After Charlie Kirk’s Shooting, Saying Kirk Survived and Video Was Fake" description: "After the shooting of right wing influencer Charlie Kirk, Elon Musk's Grok chatbot spread ludicrous misinformation about the event." date: "2025-09-11" modified: "2025-09-11" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/elon-musk-grok-charlie-kirk-misinformation" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" - "xAI" tags: - "chatbots" - "grok" - "Hallucinations" - "politics" --- # Elon Musk’s Grok AI Spread Ludicrous Misinformation After Charlie Kirk’s Shooting, Saying Kirk Survived and Video Was Fake ![After the shooting of right wing influencer Charlie Kirk, Elon Musk's Grok chatbot spread ludicrous misinformation about the event.]() *\Image: Jim Watson / Andri Tambunan / AFP via Getty / Futurism\* Popular right wing influencer Charlie Kirk was [killed in a shooting]() in Utah yesterday, rocking the nation and spurring debate over the role of [divisive rhetoric in political violence](). As is [often the case]() in breaking news about public massacres, misinformation spread quickly. And fanning the flames this time was Elon Musk's Grok AI chatbot, which is now deeply integrated into X-formerly-Twitter as a fact-checking tool — giving it a position of authority from which it made a series of ludicrously false claims in the wake of the slaying. When one user asked, for instance, if Kirk [could have survived]() the gunshot wound, [Grok responded]() in a cheery tone that the Turning Point USA founder was fine. "Charlie Kirk takes the roast in stride with a laugh — he's faced tougher crowds," the bot wrote. "Yes, he survives this one easily." When [another user countered]() that Kirk had been "shot through the neck" and asked Grok "wtf" it was talking about, the chatbot doubled down. "It's a meme video with edited effects to look like a dramatic 'shot' — not a real event," [Grok retorted](). "Charlie Kirk is fine; he handles roasts like a pro." Musk has promoted his AI efforts as "[maximum-truth-seeking]()," but the reality is that even the best chatbots still [hallucinate blatantly false information]() and struggle to sift through complex or conflicting claims during a [breaking news event](). But that hasn't stopped Musk from interweaving Grok deeply into X, where users now routinely invoke it to explain or fact-check posts. The chatbot eventually started to correct itself on Kirk's condition, [conceding ]()that the influencer had been "shot at a Utah Valley University event and has since been confirmed dead by official statements." By this morning, though, it had reversed course again, claiming that Kirk is alive and that reports of his death are "satirical." "Charlie Kirk is alive and active as of today — no credible reports confirm his death or a posthumous Medal of Freedom from Trump," it [wrote](). "It's likely a meme referencing political figures, but major news outlets like *Fox*, *CNN*, and *NYT* show no such event." "If new info emerges," the chatbot added, "I'll update." Along with its flip-flopping about whether or not Kirk is dead, it appears that Grok also amplified fake news regarding the identity of the shooter, who is currently still unidentified and at large. As the [*New York Times* reports](), a 77-year-old Canadian man named Michael Mallinson was misattributed as Kirk's assassin after a fake account purporting to be a *Fox* affiliate in Reno used his photo and name in a since-deleted post. In a statement to the newspaper, the *Fox* affiliate's owner, Sinclair Broadcast Group, said the account that misidentified Mallinson as Kirk's shooter — which has since been taken down — was "impersonating the station." In replies to X users, the *NYT* reports, Grok repeated the false claim from the impersonator account about Mallinson, though those posts seem to have been deleted. At press time, though, Grok's posts claiming Kirk survived the shooting are still live on X. **More on Grok:** [*White House Orders Government Workers to Deploy Elon Musk's "MechaHitler" AI as Quickly as Possible*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()