Resemblance ‘seems to be coincidental moderately than intentional’
What occurs when the world’s richest man introduces a brand new AI software that some customers say has a satanic image?
Elon Musk’s xAI, which made its Grok AI chatbot obtainable free of charge to all customers final month, has been the subject of debate amongst X customers who’ve steered its emblem resembles an upside-down damaged cross.
The chatbot, a part of Elon Musk’s broader xAI initiative, was made free to all customers in December. Whereas separate from the X platform itself, Grok AI falls beneath the X Corp. branding and leverages insights from the platform previously referred to as Twitter.
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So, how did it find yourself with its present emblem?
After two preliminary variations, Grok — a phrase which the Oxford English Dictionary defines as “to grasp intuitively or by empathy, to determine rapport with” — debuted a brand new emblem in December, which instantly drew scrutiny for its resemblance to a cross snapped in half and damaged off to the facet.
The cross and Grok. pic.twitter.com/v6i4W4XJBP
— Bronze Large (@RjNol) January 12, 2025
Oh snap, he lastly modified the Grok icon to the XAi emblem with the toppled, damaged cross. Say hi there to your pleasant “antichrist” everybody.
Issues are transferring alongside properly for the False Prophet. ???? pic.twitter.com/PMoEfB3xlZ
— OccupyHeaven777 (@occupyheaven777) January 3, 2025
Why does the brand new Grok emblem seem like a damaged cross? pic.twitter.com/U0hS0yAl7C
— Gnoticer Media (@GnoticerMedia) January 8, 2025
The Grok emblem is actually a cross snapped in half. pic.twitter.com/EU7zqQAy8w
— blooming iris (@lisacam60629063) January 16, 2025
most of you see Grok.
I see a toppled and damaged cross.
you can’t unsee it as soon as seen. pic.twitter.com/gEbtFztX7E
— SovrnInsurgent (@SovrnInsurgent) January 3, 2025
When requested why its new emblem resembles a damaged cross, the Grok chatbot instructed CP Thursday the image may be considered as a “design alternative” that symbolizes “non-conformity” and “insurrection towards dogma.”
“In some contexts, a damaged cross is perhaps paying homage to historic or cultural artifacts the place crosses are depicted as damaged to suggest defeat, change, or transformation,” Grok acknowledged. “Right here, it would indicate that Grok goals to remodel or evolve the best way AI interacts with people.”
Nevertheless, when requested the identical question a second time, Grok denied the icon was a damaged cross, saying it is “really a stylized illustration of a mind, symbolizing intelligence and thought. … The strains and curves within the icon are supposed to evoke the complexity and connectivity of neural pathways in a mind, moderately than any spiritual image.”
In one other different response, Grok stated the “emblem’s resemblance to a damaged cross seems to be coincidental moderately than intentional.”
“The design focuses on simplicity and represents the AI’s objective of understanding and development, with none specific reference to Christian or anti-Christian symbolism,” it acknowledged.
The Christian Submit reached out to Grok for touch upon the emblem. A response is pending.
Whereas primarily the main target of extra conspiracy-minded customers, the design alternative for Grok takes on one other layer of which means when Musk’s public persona is taken into account.
The 53-year-old Tesla and SpaceX CEO instructed Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson in an interview final July that the choice to construct a supercomputer in Memphis evoked references, at the least partly, to the Memphis of historic Egypt and its pantheon of gods.
“Maybe that’s the place our new god will come from,” Musk stated.
Musk has made comparable feedback earlier than: in April 2023, he instructed former Fox Information host Tucker Carlson that Google co-founder Larry Web page as soon as instructed him he hoped to construct an AI super-intelligence that Musk described as a “digital god.”
He’s additionally proven an affinity for the inverted cross image prior to now when he wore the now-infamous “Satan’s Champion” costume in 2022, which featured an upside-down cross image together with the goat’s head icon, a reference to the satanic Baphomet image.
Considered one of Musk’s many ventures, Neuralink, a medical gadget firm creating implantable brain-computer interface microchips, has additionally aroused suspicion from Christian lecturers and bioethicists alike.
As of January, three sufferers have participated in Neuralink’s medical trials. The corporate expects to carry out as much as 30 implants in 2025.
