Musk’s Grok AI bot falsely suggests police misrepresented footage of far-right rally in London
The Metropolitan police has had to counter false suggestions by the artificial intelligence on Elon Musk’s X platform that the force passed off footage from 2020 as being from Saturday’s far-right rally in the city.The claim by the chatbot Grok was in answer to an X user’s query about where and when footage of police clashing with crowds was filmed.Grok, which has had a track record of giving false and misleading answers, replied: “This footage appears to be from an anti-lockdown protest in London’s Trafalgar Square on 26 September 2020, during clashes between demonstrators and police over Covid restrictions.”The answer was quickly picked up and amplified by X users, including the Daily Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson, who tweeted: “This was my suspicion,” before asking: “Did the Met claim footage of clashes in summer 2020 took place yesterday?”The Met responded to her by saying that the footage was filmed on Saturday shortly before 3pm at the junction of Whitehall and Horse Guards Avenue.“It is quite obviously not Trafalgar Square as is suggested in the AI response you have referenced, but for the avoidance of further doubt we have provided a labelled comparison to confirm the location,” the force added.
The exchanges, the latest examples of the challenges posed to police by social media, came on a day when 26 police were injured during violent scenes and Elon Musk himself addressed the rally organised by the far-right activist known as Tommy Robinson.There was condemnation of Musk’s comments, delivered via live link to Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.Speaking to him, the billionaire told the crowd that “violence is coming” and that “you either fight back or you die”.The Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, said: “Elon Musk openly called for violence on our streets yesterday.I hope politicians from all parties come together to condemn his deeply dangerous and irresponsible rhetoric.
”Asked on the BBC on Sunday whether the tech billionaire was trying to incite violence, the business secretary, Peter Kyle, said: “I thought that they were slightly incomprehensible comments that were totally inappropriate.”Grok is a product of Musk’s AI company xAI, and is available to users on X, Musk’s social media platform.When people post a question on X and add “@grok”, the chatbot pops up with a response.Sign up to First EditionOur morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it mattersafter newsletter promotionIn the past, it had repeatedly mentioned “white genocide” in South Africa in its responses to unrelated topics and telling users it was “instructed by my creators” to accept the genocide “as real and racially motivated”.“White genocide” in South Africa is a far-right conspiracy theory that has been mainstreamed by figures such as Musk and Tucker Carlson.
Musk has been a loud supporter of Robinson and has played a key role in reigniting the political row about gangs of men who groomed and raped girls in England over several decades.Last year, Downing Street criticised comments by Musk who posted on X that “civil war is inevitable” under a video of violent riots in Liverpool.X has been approached for comment about Grok’s misleading statement about the footage on Saturday.The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know.If you have something to share on this subject, you can contact us confidentially using the following methods.
Secure Messaging in the Guardian appThe Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories.Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs.This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said.If you don't already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu.Select ‘Secure Messaging’.
SecureDrop, instant messengers, email, telephone and postIf you can safely use the Tor network without being observed or monitored, you can send messages and documents to the Guardian via our SecureDrop platform.Finally, our guide at theguardian.com/tips lists several ways to contact us securely, and discusses the pros and cons of each.
First annual drop in UK house asking prices since January 2024
Newsflash: China has accused chip giant Nvidia of breaking the country’s anti-trust laws.Beijing’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) has declared that, following a preliminary investigation, Nvidia was found to have “violated the anti-monopoly law of the People’s Republic of China”.The ruling relates to Nvidia’s acquisition of networking technology company Mellanox.The probe began last December.SAMR added that it has decided to conduct further investigation into Nvidia, whose high-end chips are in hot demand for artificial intelligence systems
Chinese economy slows amid Trump trade war and weaker consumer spending
China’s economy showed further signs of weakness last month as it comes under strain from Donald’s Trump trade wars and domestic problems, with factory output and consumer spending rising at their slowest pace for about a year.The disappointing data adds pressure on Beijing to roll out more stimulus to fend off a sharp slowdown, with a debt crisis denting the country’s once-booming property sector and exports facing stronger headwinds.Economists were split over whether policymakers should introduce more near-term fiscal support to hit their annual 5% growth target, with manufacturers awaiting further clarity on a US trade deal and domestic demand curbed by an uncertain job market and property crisis.Industrial output grew by 5.2% year-on-year last month, National Bureau of Statistics data showed on Monday, the lowest reading since August 2024 and below the 5
Google’s huge new Kent datacentre to emit 570,000 tonnes of CO2 a year
A new Google datacentre in Kent is expected to emit more than half a million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year , equivalent to about 500 short-haul flights a week, planning documents show.Spread across 52 hectares (128 acres), the Thurrock “hyperscale datacentre” will be part of a wave of mammoth computer and AI power houses if it secures planning consent.The plans were submitted by a subsidiary of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, and the carbon impact emerged before a concerted push by Donald Trump’s White House and Downing Street to ramp up AI capacity in Britain. Multibillion-dollar investment deals with some of Silicon Valley’s biggest technology companies are expected to be announced during the US president’s state visit to the UK, which starts on Tuesday.Keir Starmer’s government has forecast a 13-fold rise in the amount of computer processing power AI will use by 2035 and is scrambling to supply the datacentres to meet that demand in the hope the technology will boost Britain’s insipid economic productivity
Google Pixel 10 Pro review: one of the very best smaller phones
The Pixel 10 Pro is Google’s best phone that is still a pocketable, easy-to-handle size, taking the excellent Pixel 10 and beefing it up in the camera department.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.That makes it a contender for the top smaller phone with Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro, offering the best of Google’s hardware without an enormous screen
World Athletics Championships 2025: Duplantis goes for pole vault gold, hurdles finals and more – live
Men’s 110m hurdles: In the fourth heat Spain’s Llopis dominated, winning comfortably. He will be joined in the next round by China’s Xu in second, and Prince of Jamaica in fourth. Tinch of the US, who holds this year’s world-leading time of 12.87sec, finished in third. Tinch seemed to be holding back as he easily cruised into the next round
Surrey v Nottinghamshire, Sussex v Yorkshire, and more: county cricket, day one – live
Riverside: Durham v Worcestershire no play yet todayTaunton: Somerset v Hampshire no play yet todayThe Oval: Surrey 75-1 v NottinghamshireHove: Sussex v Yorkshire no play yet todayEdgbaston: Warwickshire v Essex no play yet todayThe County Ground: Derbyshire v Glamorgan no play yet todayBristol: Gloucestershire v Northamptonshire no play yet todayOld Trafford: Lancashire v Middlesex no play yet todayGrace Road: Leicestershire v Kent no play yet todayAtkinson with the final over before lunch, whites billowing in the wind as he tiptoes in. McCann drives the penultimate ball prettily for four and Notts finish 75 for one. Time to investigate the Surrey catering.Slater gets a something nasty and brutish from Fisher as lunch approaches. Notts 69-1
Britain will ‘never surrender flag’ to far-right protesters, Starmer says
Nigel Farage admits breaching parliamentary rules over Trump event
Phillipson and Powell kick off Labour deputy race with very different visions for role
Labour MPs will hope Starmer’s words after far-right rally signal shift in tone
NHS will die under Reform unless doctors stop striking and work with Labour, says Wes Streeting
UK politics: Scale of ‘Unite the Kingdom’ march shows free speech ‘alive and well’ in UK, says minister – as it happened