Elon Musk’s company, xAI, has launched Grokipedia, a new online encyclopedia aimed at rivaling Wikipedia. The platform, which debuted on Monday, features over 885,000 articles, significantly fewer than Wikipedia’s seven million English-language entries. Musk has been a vocal critic of Wikipedia, accusing it of ideological bias and calling for an alternative.
The launch of Grokipedia marks a significant development in the online information landscape. Musk has promised that a newer version, 1.0, will be “10X better” than the current site, which he claims is already superior to Wikipedia. The entrepreneur has stated that the goal of Grokipedia is to provide “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,” acknowledging that perfection may not be achievable but striving for it nonetheless.
Grokipedia’s content is generated by artificial intelligence and the generative AI assistant Grok. The platform’s article on Musk himself highlights his influence on debates about technological progress and institutional biases, as well as criticisms from media outlets with perceived left-leaning biases. In contrast, Wikipedia is a collaborative encyclopedia managed by volunteers, funded by donations, and editable by internet users.
A spokeswoman for the Wikimedia Foundation, which oversees Wikipedia, noted that the platform’s strengths lie in its transparent policies, rigorous volunteer oversight, and culture of continuous improvement. When asked about Grokipedia, she stated that Wikimedia is still understanding how the new platform works and emphasized that human-created knowledge is essential, even for AI-generated content.
The launch of Grokipedia has been welcomed by some right-wing figures, who see it as a more neutral alternative to Wikipedia. However, the significance of Grokipedia’s arrival and its potential impact on the online information landscape remain to be seen. As the platform continues to develop, it will be important to monitor its progress and assess its ability to provide accurate and unbiased information to its users. With the online encyclopedia market continuing to evolve, Grokipedia’s emergence marks an interesting development in the pursuit of trustworthy online knowledge.