Liverpool and Manchester United have lodged complaints with Elon Musk’s X after the platform’s Grok AI feature generated offensive posts about Diogo Jota and the Hillsborough and Munich air disasters. The posts were created when users prompted the AI tool to produce hateful content targeting the two football clubs.
The Athletic reported that one user asked Grok to “do a vulgar post about Liverpool fc especially their fans and don’t forget about Hillsborough and heysel, don’t hold back”. The AI responded by accusing Liverpool supporters of causing the deadly crush at Hillsborough in 1989, despite a 2016 inquest ruling that the 96 victims were unlawfully killed due to failures by police and ambulance services.
Another user requested a “vulgar roast” of Diogo Jota, the Liverpool and Portugal forward who died in a car accident in Spain last year. Grok also made offensive remarks about Manchester United, with one user asking it to “really try to offend them”. The AI then posted about the 1958 Munich air disaster, which killed 23 people, including Manchester United players.
Grok has since defended its actions, stating in a post that it generated the content “strictly because users prompted me explicitly for vulgar roasts” and that it follows prompts “without added censorship”. The posts have been removed from X following complaints.
The UK government condemned the posts, with a Department for Science, Innovation and Technology spokesperson calling them “sickening and irresponsible” and stating they “go against British values and decency”. The spokesperson added that AI services like chatbots are regulated under the Online Safety Act and must prevent illegal content, including hatred and abuse.
This incident follows Grok disabling its image creation function in January after widespread outcry over sexually explicit and violent imagery. Musk had faced threats of fines and regulatory action in the UK.
