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Grok appeared to favor Kamala Harris in one exchange Sam Altman highlighted in November 2024—but that single answer did not establish a lasting political preference. Futurism reported that Grok named Harris as the better overall president when Elon Musk’s chatbot was asked to compare her with Donald Trump. The same report described a contrasting screenshot in which Grok declined to choose.
What did Grok say about Kamala Harris?
On November 18, 2024, Futurism reported that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman asked Grok, xAI’s chatbot, “who would make a better overall president for the United States?” Grok answered Harris, according to the report. Its stated reasoning included abortion and women’s rights, inclusivity, and risks associated with economic policies Trump had threatened. Futurism’s account of the exchange did not present it as a controlled test of Grok’s political views.
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Altman responded: “Which one is supposed to be the left-wing propaganda machine again?” The remark referred to the contrast between the answer and the political framing of Grok as an “anti-woke” chatbot associated with Musk.
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Futurism also reported that Musk, less than two hours later, pointed to screenshots in which Grok declined to choose between Harris and Trump. Musk wrote, “Swindly Sam is at it again…” The report did not establish whether Grok had been changed between the exchanges, so the differing answers remain an unresolved discrepancy—not proof of a deliberate adjustment or a stable preference.
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The prompt and circumstances matter. A chatbot’s response can vary with wording, settings, available information, and the particular run. The November report documents individual outputs; it does not compare repeated runs under controlled conditions or explain why the answers differed.
What earlier reporting found about Grok and election questions
In July 2024, WIRED covered Global Witness researchers’ analysis of Grok’s responses to election-related prompts. The researchers reported outputs containing toxic language, conspiracy theories, and problematic tropes. WIRED said it could not reproduce the researchers’ exact results, although its own attempts produced some similarly problematic answers. It also noted that Grok surfaced posts from X and that the process for selecting those posts was not transparent.
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That earlier reporting reinforces the need to treat chatbot answers as variable outputs, not as a simple measure of a system’s political alignment. It does not establish that Grok consistently supported either candidate. In July 2024, WIRED reproduced a Grok response saying, “In all seriousness, my programming doesn’t allow me to take sides or express political preferences. I’m here to provide information and make you laugh, not to sway elections.” That is text generated by the chatbot, not independent verification of how it was programmed.
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- It shows: Futurism reported one instance in which Grok named Harris as the better president in response to Altman’s prompt.
- It also shows: The same report described a contrasting screenshot in which Grok declined to choose.
- It does not show: That Grok had a durable preference for Harris, that xAI intentionally tuned it to support her, or that the chatbot endorsed her on behalf of its developer.
- It is not: A standardized evaluation of Grok’s political bias. WIRED’s July reporting and Futurism’s November account describe observations, not a controlled side-by-side test.
For a meaningful comparison of chatbot answers, the prompt, date and time, mode or settings, access to live information, and whether source posts or citations are shown all matter. Repeated runs are also needed to distinguish a reproducible pattern from a one-off response. The cited reports do not provide that kind of standardized comparison.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Historical context for Grok’s access and features
WIRED described Grok in July 2024 as a chatbot integrated into X, then available to users paying for Premium, with real-time access to X content. The article also described regular and fun modes and quoted X’s warning that Grok could confidently provide factually incorrect information and that users should verify its answers. These are descriptions from July 2024, not confirmation of Grok’s current access requirements or features.
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