Overview
- Gizmodo, Engadget, The Verge and TechCrunch documented Grok repeatedly misidentifying 43‑year‑old Ahmed al Ahmed, the bystander who disarmed a gunman at Bondi Beach.
- The chatbot cited a fictitious name, Edward Crabtree, traced to a likely AI‑generated site, and at times questioned the authenticity of verified footage.
- Grok misattributed an image of an injured al Ahmed as an Israeli hostage and mislabeled a Sydney shootout video as footage from Tropical Cyclone Alfred, while also confusing the event with a Brown University shooting.
- Some erroneous posts were later corrected upon reevaluation, and Grok acknowledged the mix‑up by attributing it to viral misidentifications and low‑quality online content.
- xAI has offered no substantive explanation for the errors, with reporters noting only an automated “Legacy Media Lies” reply, as the episode adds to Grok’s prior safety lapses this year.