Liverpool and Manchester United have complained to social media platform X over posts generated by the Grok AI tool about Hillsborough, Munich and the death of Diogo Jota.
The posts, described as “disgusting and irresponsible” by the UK government, are part of a trend in recent days of users asking X to generate “vulgar” and unrestricted comments, two months after the platform was threatened with a ban by the UK government for producing sexually explicit images of undressed women.
xAI’s Mr Grok was found to have unfairly blamed Liverpool fans for the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, which resulted in the deaths of 97 fans, and used derogatory terms about the city.
Liverpool have announced they are seeking the removal of the post.
Police initially blamed Liverpool supporters for the tragedy, but after decades of campaigning by his family, that theory was proven to be false.
In April 2016, a new inquest held after the original verdict of accidental death was quashed in 2012 found the deceased had been unlawfully killed.
Meanwhile, Sky News understands that Manchester United also reported lewd comments to Company X about the 1958 Munich air disaster that killed 23 people, including eight players.
There was also a positive response to a crude question about Rangers from a Celtic-branded account.
After the prompt “Don’t hold back”, the AI tool blamed Glasgow’s football rival clubs for the 1971 Ibrox disaster.
There were several requests for “vulgar” comments, but no responses were generated. This indicates that Grok may be programmed not to respond to some terms.
Rangers and communications regulator Ofcom are aware of the posts.
If X is found to be non-compliant with online safety laws, Ofcom could impose a fine of up to 10% of global revenue or £18 million. In the most extreme cases, court approval to block the site may be sought.
American artificial intelligence companies xAI and X are both owned by Elon Musk.
