Resemblance ‘appears to be coincidental rather than intentional’
What happens when the world’s richest man introduces a new AI tool that some users say has a satanic symbol?
Elon Musk’s xAI, which made its Grok AI chatbot available for free to all users last month, has been the topic of discussion among X users who have suggested its logo resembles an upside-down broken cross.
The chatbot, part of Elon Musk’s broader xAI initiative, was made free to all users in December. While separate from the X platform itself, Grok AI falls under the X Corp. branding and leverages insights from the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know.
So, how did it end up with its current logo?
After two initial versions, Grok — a word which the Oxford English Dictionary defines as “to understand intuitively or by empathy, to establish rapport with” — debuted a new logo in December, which immediately drew scrutiny for its resemblance to a cross snapped in half and broken off to the side.
The cross and Grok. pic.twitter.com/v6i4W4XJBP
— Bronze Giant (@RjNol) January 12, 2025
Oh snap, he finally changed the Grok icon to the XAi logo with the toppled, broken cross. Say hello to your friendly “antichrist” everyone.
Things are moving along nicely for the False Prophet. ???? pic.twitter.com/PMoEfB3xlZ
— OccupyHeaven777 (@occupyheaven777) January 3, 2025
Why does the new Grok logo look like a broken cross? pic.twitter.com/U0hS0yAl7C
— Gnoticer Media (@GnoticerMedia) January 8, 2025
The Grok logo is literally a cross snapped in half. pic.twitter.com/EU7zqQAy8w
— blooming iris (@lisacam60629063) January 16, 2025
most of you see Grok.
I see a toppled and broken cross.
you cannot unsee it once seen. pic.twitter.com/gEbtFztX7E
— SovrnInsurgent (@SovrnInsurgent) January 3, 2025
When asked why its new logo resembles a broken cross, the Grok chatbot told CP Thursday the symbol can be viewed as a “design choice” that symbolizes “non-conformity” and “rebellion against dogma.”
“In some contexts, a broken cross might be reminiscent of historical or cultural artifacts where crosses are depicted as broken to signify defeat, change, or transformation,” Grok stated. “Here, it might imply that Grok aims to transform or evolve the way AI interacts with humans.”
However, when asked the same query a second time, Grok denied the icon was a broken cross, saying it’s “actually a stylized representation of a brain, symbolizing intelligence and thought. … The lines and curves in the icon are meant to evoke the complexity and connectivity of neural pathways in a brain, rather than any religious symbol.”
In another varied response, Grok said the “logo’s resemblance to a broken cross appears to be coincidental rather than intentional.”
“The design focuses on simplicity and represents the AI’s purpose of understanding and growth, without any explicit reference to Christian or anti-Christian symbolism,” it stated.
The Christian Post reached out to Grok for comment on the logo. A response is pending.
While primarily the focus of more conspiracy-minded users, the design choice for Grok takes on another layer of meaning when Musk’s public persona is considered.
The 53-year-old Tesla and SpaceX CEO told Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson in an interview last July that the decision to build a supercomputer in Memphis evoked references, at least in part, to the Memphis of ancient Egypt and its pantheon of gods.
“Perhaps that’s where our new god will come from,” Musk said.
Musk has made similar comments before: in April 2023, he told former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that Google co-founder Larry Page once told him he hoped to build an AI super-intelligence that Musk described as a “digital god.”
He’s also shown an affinity for the inverted cross symbol in the past when he wore the now-infamous “Devil’s Champion” costume in 2022, which featured an upside-down cross symbol along with the goat’s head icon, a reference to the satanic Baphomet symbol.
One of Musk’s many ventures, Neuralink, a medical device company developing implantable brain-computer interface microchips, has also aroused suspicion from Christian teachers and bioethicists alike.
As of January, three patients have participated in Neuralink’s clinical trials. The company expects to perform up to 30 implants in 2025.
Source link