Explained: What is Elon Musk’s Grokipedia and how does it differ from Wikipedia?

Elon Musk on Monday (October 27) launched Grokipedia, a platform he is promoting as an alternative to the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia.

According to The Washington Post, Grokipedia was developed by artificial intelligence and is being touted by Musk as a “less biased” version of Wikipedia.

Powered by Grok, xAI’s AI chatbot trained on real-time data, Grokipedia embodies Musk’s vision of a "truthful and independent alternative" to Wikipedia.

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Musk has described Grokipedia as a "massive improvement over Wikipedia" and "a necessary step towards the xAI goal of understanding the Universe."

Musk launches Grokipedia

Musk first announced Grokipedia on September 29 in response to an X post by US President Donald Trump’s AI adviser, Silicon Valley investor David Sacks, who had labelled Wikipedia “hopelessly biased”.

"We are building Grokipedia @xAI. Will be a massive improvement over Wikipedia. Frankly, it is a necessary step towards the xAI goal of understanding the Universe," Musk wrote in his post.

On October 20, Musk announced a short delay, saying, "We need to do more work to purge out the propaganda." The site briefly went down an hour after its launch before returning online later that evening.

The launch follows Musk’s earlier comments about delaying the rollout to conduct more work to “purge out the propaganda” and ensure that Grokipedia’s content presents a balanced view.

Wikipedia vs Grokipedia

Unlike Wikipedia’s crowd-sourced editorial model, which relies on volunteer editors, Grokipedia employs AI to manage, verify, and curate its content. Users cannot directly edit entries but may submit corrections through a reporting system designed to prevent typical editing disputes.

Grokipedia’s content is largely adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0, but it does not include Wikipedia’s standard in-line source references, raising concerns about transparency and sourcing. Social media users have already noted instances where articles reflect Musk’s personal outlook more overtly than their Wikipedia counterparts.

Some users have observed Grokipedia’s early content aligning with Musk’s conservative perspectives, with certain entries omitting information found on Wikipedia or presenting alternative interpretations. Others, however, have praised its perceived fairness and neutrality.

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Although Grokipedia mimics Wikipedia’s format and interface, it remains significantly smaller in scale, less transparent in operation, and shows a discernibly more right-leaning bias in how certain topics are framed, The Washington Post reported.

Launch marred by early glitches

This project marks Musk’s latest attempt to challenge mainstream platforms he considers politically biased. Once an admirer of Wikipedia, Musk has since accused it of harbouring liberal views and earlier this year urged followers to “defund Wikipedia until balance is restored.”

Grokipedia.com went live on Monday afternoon, though some users reported technical errors, according to The Washington Post.

The site remained publicly accessible for only about an hour before access became restricted.

Right-leaning bias

Visually, Grokipedia closely resembles Wikipedia’s visual and structural layout, featuring a minimalist homepage titled “Grokipedia v0.1” and a simple search bar for user queries. As a beta version, it is expected to evolve with more AI-generated content and greater editorial refinement.

This new project is the latest attempt by Musk to use Grok, the ChatGPT-like AI system created by xAI, to offer freewheeling, right-leaning alternatives to mainstream tech platforms.

At launch, Grokipedia’s homepage claimed nearly 885,000 articles, compared to Wikipedia’s eight million entries. However, its content base was visibly smaller, its editorial processes less transparent, and its tone notably more right-leaning in some areas.

For instance, Grokipedia’s entry on gender states, "Gender refers to the binary classification of humans as male or female based on biological sex." This definition is markedly at odds with Wikipedia’s, which states, "Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioural aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender."

The contrast highlights the platform’s ideological tilt. Reception to Grokipedia has been mixed, supporters praise its innovative concept, while critics have pointed to factual errors, uncredited use of Wikipedia content, and potential ideological and AI-related distortions.

Two versions of Musk

Musk’s entry on Grokipedia differs sharply from Wikipedia’s, portraying his ventures in a flattering light. It claims that Musk’s work on artificial intelligence "emphasises AI safety through truth-oriented development rather than heavy regulation".

It further stated that certain releases "reflect xAI’s rapid iteration, with Musk highlighting Grok’s design for maximal truth-seeking and reduced censorship." The page cites xAI’s official website, owned by Musk, as its source.

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While Wikipedia’s entry includes an "Accolades" section, Grokipedia concludes Musk’s page with “Recognition and Long-Term Vision", which elaborates on his beliefs.

"His long-term vision prioritises safeguarding human consciousness against existential threats, emphasising the establishment of a self-sustaining multi-planetary civilisation as a hedge against planetary-scale catastrophes on Earth," the section read.

AI errors spark criticism

Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales told The Washington Post last week that he did not have high expectations for Grokipedia, saying AI language models "aren’t sophisticated enough" and "there will be a lot of errors."

One such example appeared in the Grokipedia entry about the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where it mistakenly claimed that Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy took on "a more prominent role" after Musk’s departure in May.

In reality, Ramaswamy had left the group before it became part of the Trump administration in January. The page cited BBC and Al Jazeera articles, neither of which mentioned Ramaswamy.

Grok has faced criticism in the past for factual errors. On one occasion, it promoted a baseless conspiracy theory about “white genocide” in South Africa following unrelated prompts.

Musk and X have since acknowledged these issues and promised fixes.