Grokipedia Cites Neo-Nazi–Linked Websites and Other Sources Promoting Conspiracy Theories

XAI launched its Grokipedia encyclopedia in October, positioning it as a rival to Wikipedia — a platform Musk and some right-wing groups in the United States accuse of having a left-leaning ideological bias.

Since the launch, academic researchers and news outlets have begun scrutinizing Grokipedia’s content and comparing it with Wikipedia. Their findings suggest that the project, marketed as a more neutral and trustworthy alternative, is grappling with significant questions about the reliability of its information and the transparency behind its sourcing.

Concerns Over the Spread of Misinformation and Hate Speech

Two researchers from Cornell University analyzed Grokipedia, a new online encyclopedia launched by American entrepreneur Elon Musk, which presents itself as an alternative to the well-known Wikipedia. They found that it cited the neo-Nazi site Stormfront 42 times and relied on other websites that experts consider either unreliable or promoters of hate.

The researchers also found that Grokipedia cited the conspiracy theory site InfoWars 34 times and the far-right site “VDARE” 107 times.

While these citations represent a small fraction of the encyclopedia’s total sources, they are notable because Wikipedia, in contrast, does not consider these sources reliable and does not allow them as references, even as primary sources, due to their lack of credibility, according to the Cornell analysis and Wikipedia’s publicly available list of approved sources.

The analysis found that about 5.5% of Grokipedia articles contain at least one citation from a source banned on English Wikipedia.

Harold Treadman, one of the study’s authors and a graduate student in computer science at Cornell, told NBP News in a phone interview, “The publicly defined, community-driven rules that maintain Wikipedia as a comprehensive, reliable, human-curated source are not applied in Grokipedia.”

Treadman previously worked for the Wikimedia Foundation, which oversees Wikipedia, and continues part-time work with one of its affiliates. He disclosed this in the study but emphasized that his research was conducted independently. The study’s co-author, Alexios Mantzaralis, is director of the Cornell Security, Trust, and Safety Initiative and a former director at the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN).

Overall, the researchers found that Grokipedia contains 12,522 citations to online sources previously classified by academic studies as very low credibility. They also found that Grokipedia cites these sites three times more often than Wikipedia does.

The analysis indicates that this pattern is particularly pronounced in topics related to politics and public figures, with repeated reliance on American and Indian right-wing platforms, state media from countries like China and Iran, and sites that promote conspiracy theories or pseudoscience.

At the same time, investigations show that large portions of Grokipedia’s content are not original but are copied verbatim from Wikipedia and then re-edited with AI to add different context or narrative. This raises questions about the added value of the new encyclopedia, especially since it markets itself as a more neutral alternative while relying on the same sources it criticizes, albeit restructured with different editorial slants.

Unlike Wikipedia, Grokipedia controls the editing process. Users can suggest edits, but instead of being reviewed by volunteers, the decision to accept or reject changes is controlled by Musk’s XAI company. The company has also indicated that its AI chatbot, Grok, plays a role in reviewing edits, with the phrase “Grok Feedback” appearing when a change is accepted or rejected.

Grokipedia: Elon Musk’s AI Encyclopedia Draws Scrutiny Over Accuracy

Elon Musk presents Grokipedia as a way to “tell the truth” free from what he sees as biases in traditional media and existing digital platforms. He has also said he intends to rename it “Encyclopedia Galactica” once it reaches the level he envisions, inviting contributors to help build what he likens to a modern, fictional version of the Library of Alexandria.

Musk has promoted Grokipedia as an AI-powered encyclopedia designed to deliver unvarnished truth. “The goal of Grok and Grokipedia is truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,” he said. “We won’t be perfect, but we will strive toward that goal.”

He has also described it as a platform “less ideologically biased” than traditional encyclopedias, criticizing what he calls left-wing control over established knowledge platforms.

In contrast, the Wikimedia Foundation emphasizes that Wikipedia’s transparency and community-driven review process make it more verifiable and neutral, unlike a platform that relies on centralized decisions and AI-generated content.

Some tech review blogs and academic observers who tested Grokipedia noted that its interface is simple and fast, allowing them to locate articles on niche or lesser-known topics more efficiently than on Wikipedia, enabled by automated content generation.

However, several users reported errors or weak sources in some entries, particularly on sensitive political and historical subjects. Others noted that, despite the platform’s clean, modern design, users can only “suggest edits” rather than directly modify articles, limiting their ability to contribute compared with Wikipedia.

Given these challenges, experts recommend approaching Grokipedia content cautiously—especially on political, historical, or scientific topics—and cross-checking information against multiple independent sources.

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