xAI Was Part of U.S. AI Push Until Grok Went Rogue

Earlier this summer, the U.S. government announced that it would clear OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, and Google’s Gemini AI chatbots for government agency use, Andrew Nusca reported for Fortune Tech.

Things were looking good—until xAI’s Grok chatbot went “MechaHitler.” (Image: xAI X)

It was an expected move from a Trump administration that has promoted homegrown AI at every opportunity.

But one major domestic AI company was missing: Elon Musk’s xAI.

According to a new Wired report, it wasn’t supposed to be that way. xAI reportedly met with General Services Administration (GSA) leaders in June to pitch its technology as a way to streamline government operations.

Things were looking good—until xAI’s Grok chatbot went “MechaHitler,” as some users described it, by generating increasingly antisemitic replies on Musk’s social platform X.

The fallout was swift: the GSA pulled the plug, reportedly removing xAI from consideration and leaving its competitors to move forward.

What ultimately comes of the initiative remains unclear. OpenAI and Anthropic have since developed government-specific tools, but they have not yet received authorization to sell directly to U.S. agencies and must still go through approved resellers.