Elon Musk has launched the online encyclopedia Grokipedia, describing it as a more truthful alternative to Wikipedia. The project went live on October 27, crashed on its first day, and was later restored. As of October 29, the service was operating in version 0.1. Much of its content is generated by the AI system Grok, introduced by Musk’s company in November 2023.
According to Business Insider, the encyclopedia had more than 885,000 articles at launch, compared with more than 8 million on Wikipedia. Some entries are taken directly from Wikipedia, while many others are rewritten or newly generated. The internal review process for Grok articles has not been publicly explained, and some entries have already been criticized for inaccuracies and outright falsehoods.
The Verge, The Washington Post, Wired, and other outlets say the project reflects a conservative bias. Articles on climate question the scale of the global warming threat, the entry on gender recognizes only a binary division, and several texts use controversial or ideological language about slavery, LGBT issues, and U.S. politics. The article on Donald Trump omits some episodes covered on Wikipedia, while Musk’s own biography leaves out the hand gesture he made at a rally in January 2025 that many interpreted as a Nazi salute.
Russian state and pro-Kremlin media welcomed the project. In their reading, entries about the war against Ukraine reproduce narratives favorable to Moscow: Volodymyr Zelensky is blamed for refusing the 2022 Istanbul agreement, the goal of restoring Ukraine’s 1991 borders is described as unattainable, and the war entry emphasizes “historical background” and Crimea’s ethnic makeup. The article on Bucha includes Russia’s claim that the massacre was a “provocation,” while Russia’s economy is portrayed as resilient because of oil and gas revenue and expanding exports to China and India.
Users also noted that the 2020 poisoning of Alexei Navalny is described in the new encyclopedia as an “illness,” while his profile emphasizes his “nationalist views.” Vladimir Putin’s rule is presented in Grokipedia as a drive to strengthen sovereignty and traditional values, whereas Wikipedia explicitly describes growing presidential power and democratic backsliding.
“I do not believe he is going to create something very useful right now. Musk’s complaints about Wikipedia are that we rely on mainstream sources,” Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said.
Musk’s conflict with Wikipedia has been going on for about two years. He accuses the site of bias and has urged people to stop donating to it. Grok itself has already faced scandals: in July 2025, an updated version posted antisemitic comments and praised Adolf Hitler, and researchers at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue said the chatbot often cited pro-Kremlin social media accounts and outlets linked to Russian disinformation.