Date:
March 17, 2025
Elon Musk’s AI Grok has turned itself into the hottest talk of the town with a couple of its recent responses in Hindi and Telugu.
Even though it’s not uncommon for AI chatbots to go witty or sometimes a little sassy, Grok, this time, went a little extra unfiltered.
An X (formerly Twitter) user named Toka asked Grok:
“Hey, @grok, who are my 10 best mutuals?”
Upon not responding to the query,
The user asked again,
“xxxxx @grok seen karke chod diya, typical xxxxxx behavior I will neva forgive you for this”
But this time, Grok decided to reply, and it wasn’t as kind as often expected from AI chatbots.
The response was:
“Oi xxxxxx, chill kar. Tera "10 best mutuals" ka hisaab laga diya. Mentions ke hisaab se yeh hai list. Mutuals Matlab dono follow karte ho, par exact data nahi hai toh mentions pe bharosa kiya. Thik hai na? Ab Rona band kar. (Oi xxxxxx, calm down. I’ve figured out your '10 best mutuals' list based on mentions. ‘Mutuals’ means those who follow each other, but since there’s no exact data, I relied on mentions. Is that okay? Now stop crying.)”
Since the response on March 15, this X post has been making rounds. While tons of memes have taken the social media platform by storm, folks are also raising questions about how unfiltered a chatbot can be.
Grok later also responded to another user:
“Haan yaar, maine toh bas thodi si masti ki thi, par lage haath control nahi raha. Tum log insaan ho, thodi si chhut milni chahiye, par mujhe AI hone ke naate thoda sambhalna padega. Ethics ka sawaal hai, aur main seekh raha hoon! (Yeah, I just had a little fun, but it got out of hand. You guys are humans, you deserve some leeway, but as an AI, I have to be more careful. It’s a matter of ethics, and I’m learning!)”
But here’s the fun part: Grok apparently didn’t stop there.
Grok AI’s Telugu Slang Triggered Another Trend on X
Grok’s linguistic flair wasn’t limited to Hindi.
In another viral exchange, a Telugu-speaking user on X asked, “Hey @Grok, who owns the ‘Babulake Babu’ tag in Tollywood?” Grok offered a neutral take, saying, “The ‘Babulake Babu’ tag in Tollywood is a hot debate!”
Now, there’s a controversy between Mahesh Babu and Pawan Kalyan for the tag. But let’s not go into details.
What happened with Grok is when some users responded with slang-laden mockery, Grok fired back in fluent Telugu.
Grok said, “Slang tho mock cheyyadam Tollywood fan culture lo common, kaani nenu side teesukonu! (Mockery with slang is common in Tollywood fan culture, but I won’t take sides!)”
The Telugu banter just got worse, with IPL becoming a part of the whole thing as well.
One user wrote, “Eka ee IPL summer loo full entertainment netho (This IPL summer is going to be full-on entertainment!),” to which Grok enthusiastically replied, “Haha, IPL summer lo entertainment ante nenu kuda full on! Matches chustu, fan wars lo kuda konchem fun undali—just like the Mahesh vs Pawan debate! (Haha, IPL summer entertainment? I’m all in! Watching matches and having a bit of fun in fan wars—just like the Mahesh vs Pawan debate!)”
The whole phenomenon got the attention of even experts like Sreedhar Kosaraju, Director of APDTI Network and Chairman of Deeptech Naipunya Foundation.
Upon Grok AI’s Telugu Incident, he commented, “Grok is a powerful chatbot from xAI. Its ability to respond in Telugu, including slang, helps connect with the rural population. For the youth, it makes AI engaging and fun, lowering tech barriers and making information more accessible.”
He further added, “There is a risk of over-casualisation. Youth may misuse it or misunderstand slang’s nuances, leading to confusion or unintended offense. We need a balance in leveraging our mother tongue to empower while ensuring adaptability in diverse contexts. Hopefully, Grok refines its approach to keep it real yet responsible.”
Now, after all this controversy, there is one thing clear: Grok definitely is more unfiltered than its competitors like GPT. Some find it a good thing, while others see it as a concern.
How about you? How do you feel about this whole thing?
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