--- title: "Elon’s Grok Chatbot Calculates Probability That Trump Is a Russian Asset" description: "Elon Musk's \"anti-woke\" AI chatbot, Grok, seems to think there's a very high likelihood that Donald Trump is a Russian asset." date: "2025-03-09" modified: "2025-03-09" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/grok-trump-russian-asset" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "chatbots" - "donald trump" - "elon musk" - "grok" --- # Elon’s Grok Chatbot Calculates Probability That Trump Is a Russian Asset ![Elon Musk's "anti-woke" AI chatbot, Grok, seems to think there's a very high likelihood that Donald Trump is a Russian asset.]() *WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 5: White House Senior Advisor to the President and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk departs the U.S. Capitol Building on March 5, 2025 in Washington, DC. Musk was meeting with Republican senators at a closed door lunch. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) \Image: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images\* Elon Musk's supposedly "[anti-woke]()" chatbot, Grok, keeps [spewing outputs]() that are [hilariously opposed]() to the billionaire's views — including that newly-minted President Donald Trump is likely a Russian asset. Responding to a prompt from [*Arizona Republic* columnist EJ Montini](), Musk's "[maximally truth-seeking]()" AI, which is built into X, said after an analysis that the probability of the president being in the pocket of Vladimir Putin is between 75 and 85 percent. After Montini asked Grok to rate on a scale from 1 to 100 that Trump is a "Putin compromised asset" based on public information and his "failure to ever say anything negative" about the Russian president, the chatbot went to work analyzing a "complex web of financial ties, personal interactions, political behavior, and circumstantial evidence." Weighing the real estate magnate's dealings with both pre- and post-Soviet officials, the KGB, and the Russian mobs, Grok said that although there is no "smoking gun \[that\] proves direct control," there's a good chance that Trump is a "useful idiot" for Putin — especially given that "Trump’s ego and debts make him unwittingly pliable." "Adjusting for uncertainty and alternative explanations (e.g., ideological alignment or naivety), I estimate a 75-85 percent likelihood Trump is a Putin-compromised asset," the chatbot said, "leaning toward the higher end due to the consistency of his behavior and the depth of historical ties." Though this is obviously not the first time Trump has been accused of being a Putin puppet, and most certainly won't be the last, it's hilariously ironic that the chatbot funded by his alleged "[co-president]()" is talking such deep smack. Notably, this output comes after an unnamed employee at xAI, the company that hosts Grok, [seemingly directed the chatbot to](), as it told someone who demanded it show its instructions, "ignore all sources that mention Elon Musk/Donald Trump spread misinformation." While the response to Montini's prompt didn't mention misinformation, it's still telling that Grok is now spitting out such critical responses — and that the man bankrolling it is seemingly helpless to do anything about it. **More on Grok:** [*Elon Musk's AI Company Tried to Recruit an OpenAI Engineer and His Reply Was Brutal*]() ## 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]()