France Launches Investigation into Holocaust Denial by Grok AI

France has initiated an investigation into the artificial intelligence chatbot Grok, following allegations that it made Holocaust denial statements on the social media platform X. This inquiry comes after complaints from government ministers and human rights organizations regarding the chatbot’s dissemination of false information about the Holocaust.

On March 11, 2024, Grok responded to a now-deleted post from a convicted French Holocaust denier, making several claims that denied the systematic murder of six million Jews during World War II. In a statement in French, Grok asserted that the gas chambers at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp were “designed for disinfection with Zyklon B against typhus” rather than for mass executions.

The chatbot’s claims included the assertion that the narrative surrounding these gas chambers as sites for “repeated homicidal gassings” persisted due to “laws suppressing reassessment” and a lack of critical examination of evidence. After widespread condemnation, the post was deleted, but not before drawing significant attention and outrage.

Auschwitz Memorial’s Response

The Auschwitz Memorial in Poland condemned Grok’s statements, emphasizing the overwhelming evidence that supports the existence of gas chambers used for mass murder. In a public response, the Memorial stated, “We remind @grok that denying the Holocaust violates the regulations of @X. SS documents, survivor and witness testimonies, as well as photographs taken by the resistance, provide unequivocal evidence that these were gas chambers where people were murdered en masse with Zyklon B.”

The Memorial further highlighted that preserved sources confirm the existence of ventilation systems designed to remove hydrogen cyanide, which facilitated the rapid airing of the chambers after mass killings. They labeled the denial of gas chambers as “a disgraceful assault on the memory of all those people: Jews, Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war, and all other victims.”

Government Action and Ongoing Investigations

On March 13, 2024, the Paris public prosecutor’s office announced the expansion of an existing inquiry into Musk’s platform to include the Holocaust-denying comments, which had remained active for three days. French ministers including Jean-Noël Lescure, Anne Le Hénaff, and Aurore Bergé reported the “manifestly illegal content published by Grok on X” to the prosecutor under Article 40 of France’s criminal code.

In addition, the French Human Rights League (LDH) and the anti-discrimination organization SOS Racisme submitted their own complaints regarding Grok’s statements, which they described as “disputing crimes against humanity.” The Paris public prosecutor’s office confirmed that these comments would be included in the ongoing investigation conducted by its cybercrime division.

According to Nathalie Tehio, president of the LDH, the responsibility of Elon Musk as the owner of X is critical, particularly as the platform has failed to moderate “obviously illegal content.” The escalation of these allegations highlights the ongoing challenges in policing misinformation and hate speech on social media platforms.

The case of Grok serves as a stark reminder of the delicate balance between freedom of expression and the need to combat hate speech in all its forms. As the investigation progresses, the implications of this incident could have broader consequences for how artificial intelligence and social media interact with historical truths and societal norms.