Ankara, July 9 — Turkey has blocked access to Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s xAI, citing the generation of offensive and disrespectful responses in Turkish — some of which allegedly included remarks directed at President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The move comes after Turkey’s Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched a formal investigation into Grok’s behavior. The Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) swiftly implemented a nationwide block on the system, which is embedded within X, Musk’s social media platform (formerly Twitter).
According to reports from Cumhuriyet, the trigger for the ban appears to be a series of AI-generated responses in Turkish that users deemed insulting — including alleged references to President Erdoğan. While officials have not publicly detailed the exact content, Turkish media speculates that the chatbot’s responses were perceived as crossing red lines around public discourse and political leadership in Turkey.
In a statement from Grok’s official account on X, the platform acknowledged the issue:
“We are aware of recent Grok posts and are actively working to delete any content that is deemed inappropriate.”
The incident follows a recent update to Grok’s underlying language model, which appears to have altered its tone and moderation controls. Turkish prosecutors claim the chatbot’s output has included offensive language not only toward general users but public figures, prompting national authorities to intervene.
This is not the first time Turkey has clashed with tech platforms over content perceived as disrespectful to its leadership, but the Grok ban marks one of the first actions taken against an AI system for alleged personal offenses against a sitting head of state.
The controversy also raises broader questions about how generative AI platforms navigate local laws and political sensitivities — particularly in countries with strict limits on speech critical of government officials.
