Have Grok’s controversies left it trailing behind other AI brands in the UK?

Grok, the LLM owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceXAI, is seldom out of the news. The chatbot has drawn attention for controversial deepfakes, allegations of racist and antisemitic content, and (most recently) enabling the Pentagon’s decision to use the platform to launch missiles at Iran.

But do these adverse headlines translate into adverse public reaction among Britons? Data from YouGov AI Index suggests that it does. While there is a slight negative disposition towards AI companies in general, Grok’s Impression score (which measures general positive and negative sentiment) is well below the average (-22.4 vs. -1.2).

The data shows a similar story across several other metrics. Grok’s Quality score, which measures perceptions of AI companies’ accuracy, is significantly lower than that of its industry (-19.6 vs. -3.6), as is its Value score, a measure of whether an AI tool has a positive or negative impact on how users feel (-14.5 vs. -1.5). Recommend scores, which track consumer advocacy, are similarly lower relative to the average (-20.7 vs. -2.2).

Index scores, which combine several measures to provide a broader view of a company’s brand health, paint a picture of Grok’s image relative to the competition. Grok scores -17.8 compared to an industry average of -2.9.

If the public take a wary eye to LLMs, Grok – whether due to its association with its founder, its controversies, or some combination thereof – is trusted even less.

Image: Getty

Methodology

YouGov BrandIndex collects data on thousands of brands every day. Grok's scores are net scores from –100 to +100, based on daily surveys of UK adults. Data is weighted by age, gender, region, social grade, and ethnicity using a raking methodology.