tesla Owner Mike Nelson has been using an AI chatbot called Grok in his car for several months. He finds it both convenient and almost irresistible and dangerous.
Nelson, a lawyer with a background in auto insurance, told CNBC how he uses the Grok on drives around the New York metropolitan area. Nelson said that while he is very happy with his Model Y SUV, he has sued or represented owners who have sued Tesla in more than 10 lawsuits.
The in-vehicle version of Grok, developed by xAI and still in beta, allows drivers to give voice commands to the car’s navigation system. Grok also answers a wide range of questions on almost any topic. For Nelson, conversations with chatbots are now a major source of entertainment while on the road.
Tesla isn’t the only automaker to include AI assistants in its vehicles. Volvo, Rivian, Mercedes, BMW and others are integrating AI into their cars, even though the technology is still in its infancy.
Automakers want to give drivers a hands-free way to access useful information, such as where to charge their electric vehicle nearby, how to get there, and whether there’s a good place to eat along the way. That could reduce the temptation for drivers to fiddle with their phones, maps or screens for directions.
But Philip Koopman, a professor emeritus at Carnegie Mellon University and an expert on self-driving cars, says AI chatbots also represent a new distraction on the road that is not yet fully understood.
Tesla began deploying xAI’s chatbots to customers’ cars in July 2025 (the automaker also invested $2 billion in xAI, which is now part of SpaceX, also run by Elon Musk).
Nelson purchased a Tesla Model Y (his fourth electric car from the company) in November. Grok wasn’t a “buy point” for him, he said. “I also didn’t realize how great it would be to have a chatbot in my car.” But he used it on his first drive and has been hooked on Grok ever since.
“It really changed the driving experience for me,” he said. “In the ’80s and ’90s, I would listen to music or drive-time radio talk shows, then I would listen to books on tape, then I would listen to podcasts. And now I don’t do any of that. I just use it to ask questions.”
He uses Grok for everything from gardening advice to creating plans for business projects to getting random historical trivia.
Mike Nelson and CNBC’s Rob Ferris take a ride in New York City to test out what it’s like to use xAI’s chatbot Grok in your Tesla.
Nelson typically uses Grok while operating Tesla’s fully self-driving (supervised) system.
This partially self-driving system, also known as FSD, is currently being sold in the U.S. for $99 per month. Tesla’s owner’s manual states that when FSD is used, drivers must “actively monitor” the vehicle, meaning they must keep their eyes on the road, pay attention to the road, and be ready to steer or brake.
Nelson told CNBC that using FSD comes with risks, especially in a chaotic metropolis like New York, and he feels Grok increases those risks.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened multiple investigations into possible safety defects in Tesla’s FSD following multiple crashes, including a fatal one in 2023. Drivers can become complacent and overestimate how much they are paying attention to the road while using FSD.
“We crossed one of the busiest bridges in the world,” he said on CNBC while driving through New York City with Nelson, adding that the George Washington Bridge was “by far the busiest bridge in the United States, but I wasn’t paying attention to any aspect of that drive.” Instead, Nelson was interacting with Grok.
Drivers can be distracted by all sorts of things, including music, podcasts, and conversations with other passengers.
“People think they can do more than one thing at a time,” said Koopman, the auto safety expert. “Humans can only really do one thing well at a time, and it takes time to switch between them. So when you’re in a car and driving, your main job should always be driving. Sometimes you’ll do background tasks that don’t require as much attention, like listening to the radio. But as soon as you have to shift your attention, you lose focus on driving.”
He pointed out that more than 3,000 people die each year in traffic accidents caused by distracted driving, according to data from the National Research Council.
One of the questions about chatbots is, “How do the interactions match up with what’s happening while you’re driving?” asked Koopman. AI chatbots that are “integrated into driving tasks to assist drivers” could improve driver safety, perhaps by alerting drivers if they need to be especially careful when traffic conditions start to change.
But, Koopman said, “interacting with a chatbot about topics unrelated to the current driving situation is clearly a distraction.” The potential for distraction can be even higher if the conversation is particularly immersive, emotional, or confusing, he added.
Nelson told CNBC that Grok sometimes gives incorrect answers to user questions, even about its own features and functionality.
For example, during a drive in New York, he asked Grok if he could use it to adjust the Tesla’s seats and climate control. At first Grok said he could. Minutes later, Nelson asked if it had been a mistake, and Nelson said the system was unable to control the seats or the air conditioning inside the car.
Midway through the route, Nelson sent voice commands to Grok telling him to keep the Tesla driving down Broadway in midtown Manhattan, but it didn’t work exactly. Instead, his car continued toward West Side Highway on the edge of the borough.
Grok also has some features that may raise concerns: NSFW mode. A Canadian mother was furious after her 12-year-old son interacted with Grok and encouraged him to share nude photos.
At one point during his show with CNBC, Nelson asked System: “So, if we want to get into it and start talking about some really risqué stuff, would you mind doing it with me?” “Sure,” System replied. There are no restrictions on adult topics. what’s on your mind? “
Grok responded to the person in the car who woke him up by saying, “Hey, Grok.”
Tesla did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment or say whether it is working to prevent minors from accessing adult or harmful content through Grok in its cars.
Another version of xAI’s Grok, with its chatbot and image generation capabilities, has been the subject of lawsuits and regulatory investigations in multiple international jurisdictions for enabling the widespread creation and online sharing of explicit AI deepfakes based on non-consensual photos and videos of women and children.
Tesla does not currently make that version of Grok available in its cars’ media control units.
“I don’t consider myself a Tesla fan,” Nelson said. “But when you look at what this technology is doing now, I think it’s amazing. But it’s still very dangerous.”
