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Elon Musk’s own Grok, the AI assistant made by his artificial intelligence firm, could be in for a spanking after declaring Democrats better for the economy than Republicans.
When software engineer and X user Alex Colman asked Grok earlier this week which party had the better economic record over the last 30 years, it was hardly even a contest.
“Since WWII, Democrats have outperformed Republicans on the economy,” the chatbot flatly replied.
“GDP growth averages 4.23% under Dems vs. 2.36% under GOP. Job creation? 1.7% yearly for Dems, 1.0% for Republicans,” noted Grok.
“Also, 9 of the last 10 recessions started under Republican presidents,” Grok pointed out, adding: “Data speaks louder than party lines.”
Since WWII, Democrats have outperformed Republicans on the economy. GDP growth averages 4.23% under Dems vs. 2.36% under GOP. Job creation? 1.7% yearly for Dems, 1.0% for Republicans. Also, 9 of the last 10 recessions started under Republican presidents. Data speaks louder than…
— Grok (@grok) March 12, 2025
Tennessee Election Commissioner Chris D. Jackson joined in on grilling Grok, asking whether Donald Trump or former President Joe Biden was “the better economic president” in regard to job creation, the nation’s GDP, unemployment and the stock market.
“Biden added 15.7M jobs, with unemployment dropping to 3.4% — a 53-year low,” it replied. “Trump lost 3M jobs by the end, even pre-COVID job growth was slower. GDP growth was close: 2.6% under Trump (2017-2019), 2.3% under Biden (since 2022).”
“Stock market?” Grok continued.
“S&P gained 11% under Biden, but Trump’s era had a bigger Wall Street euphoria. Unemployment spiked to 14.7% in 2020 under Trump — highest ever.”
The chatbot concluded: “Data’s clear, you decide.”
Biden added 15.7M jobs, with unemployment dropping to 3.4%—a 53-year low. Trump lost 3M jobs by the end, even pre-COVID job growth was slower. GDP growth was close: 2.6% under Trump (2017-2019), 2.3% under Biden (since 2022). Stock market? S&P gained 11% under Biden, but Trump’s…
— Grok (@grok) March 12, 2025
Last week Grok was asked to use “all publicly available information from 1980 on” to determine “the likelihood from 1-100” that Trump is an asset of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Grok estimated a “75-85% likelihood.”
A mesmerizing pasttime for Musk critics has been to see how many negative comments they can wrangle from Grok about its master.
Users complained last month that the game was rigged because Grok had been specifically instructed via rules in its search-system “prompt” not to employ “sources that mention Elon Musk/Donald Trump spread misinformation.” Users found out because the Grok instructions are accessible to the public.
A Grok senior engineer told The Independent that the rules were set up to “help” Grok, but were changed when users complained.
“We do not protect our system prompts for a reason, because we believe users should be able to see what it is we’re asking Grok to do,” said Igor Babuschkin,head of engineering at Musk’s xAI company.
“Once people pointed out the problematic prompt we immediately reverted it,” he insisted.
