Elon Musk launches Grokipedia as rival to Wikipedia

Announcing the launch on social media, Musk said Grokipedia.com is “now live,” adding that its mission is “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

The billionaire has long accused Wikipedia of carrying “propaganda” and previously urged people not to donate to the nonprofit platform. In September, he revealed that his artificial intelligence company, xAI, was developing the alternative service.

Grokipedia currently features a minimalist interface centered around a search bar and lists a database of more than 885,000 articles — still far behind Wikipedia’s 7 million-plus English entries. Like Wikipedia, it offers information on a range of topics, from global figures like Taylor Swift to major sporting and historical events.

However, it remains unclear how articles are compiled. Reports suggest the platform is powered by the same xAI technology behind Musk’s Grok chatbot, while some entries appear to draw from Wikipedia content.

The Wikimedia Foundation, which operates Wikipedia, said Tuesday it is still trying to understand how Grokipedia functions.

Wikimedia noted that Wikipedia has been widely used to train major AI chatbots, including Grok, ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. “Even Grokipedia needs Wikipedia to exist,” it said, describing Wikipedia’s “human-created knowledge” as essential to AI.

Wikipedia has recently faced political scrutiny in the United States, with Republican lawmakers alleging partisan manipulation in the editing process that they claim may influence both the site and the AI systems trained on its content.

Unlike Wikipedia’s rigorous sourcing requirements — where unverified statements may be removed — some Grokipedia articles are lightly referenced. For instance, its entry on the Chola Dynasty includes just three citations, compared with more than a hundred linked sources and numerous academic references on Wikipedia, reports UNB. 

Grokipedia’s entry on Wikipedia accuses the platform of “systemic ideological biases,” particularly a “left-leaning slant” on political subjects.

Responding to such criticism, the Wikimedia Foundation said Wikipedia’s strengths lie in its transparent editorial policies, strong volunteer oversight and focus on informing global audiences “without promoting a particular point of view.”