X suspends AI account due to statements on Gaza war

X Platform briefly suspended the account of the artificial intelligence service “Grok” on Tuesday after it said that Israel and the United States were committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

According to the Palestine Online website, users reported that when they tried to access the @grok account, they were surprised by a message stating that “X suspends accounts that violate the rules.”

After the account was reactivated, Grok posted a clarification, saying that the suspension was due to his statements based on the findings of reports by the International Court of Justice, UN experts, Amnesty International, and the Israeli organization B’Tselem, which documented mass killings and starvation and indicated the intent to commit genocide.

In a subsequent response to user inquiries, Grok said that the account suspension was “the result of an internal error” and reactivated it. However, it changed his answer regarding whether Israel was committing genocide in Gaza, explaining that the definition of genocide under the UN Convention requires proof of “the intent to destroy a specific group.”

It pointed out that the killing of more than 40,000 Palestinians, the widespread destruction of infrastructure, and starvation documented in UN reports may constitute serious crimes, but they do not, in his view, amount to “proven genocide,” despite the International Court of Justice’s warning of a “reasonable risk.”

This incident comes amid repeated accusations against social media platforms of suppressing pro-Palestinian or anti-Israel content.

Official Palestinian statistics indicate that the ongoing Israeli aggression since October 7, 2023, has killed 61,599 people, and injured 154,088, and displaced hundreds of thousands, amid a famine that has claimed the lives of many civilians, including children.