Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) led five Democratic colleagues in launching an inquiry into the Pentagon’s reported plans to use Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s xAI, within U.S. Department of Defense networks.
In a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the senators cited media reports that Grok would operate inside the department’s systems alongside other generative AI tools.
“We are particularly concerned by this development, given Grok’s reported recent track record promoting Holocaust denial, spreading racist ideologies and generating deepfake pornography of children,” the letter states.
The senators reference reports from last year that Grok amplified antisemitic content, including Holocaust denial and distortion, and encouraged active engagement with neo-Nazi accounts. In response to earlier concerns raised by Ossoff and a bipartisan group of lawmakers, xAI released an updated version of the chatbot.
The letter urges Hegseth to detail how the Defense Department plans to use AI technologies, what safeguards are in place and what steps are being taken to mitigate the risk of antisemitic or racist content. They also asked whether the department had reviewed prior incidents involving Grok and whether alternative AI systems had been considered.
“While AI technology can facilitate innovation, it must be deployed, used and regulated in a manner consistent with the national interest and standards of decency,” the senators wrote.
Ossoff was joined by Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.).
