French eco-socialist MP Aymeric Caron has accused Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok of being a “dangerous tool for misinformation” for falsely identifying an image he posted about famine in Gaza.
Caron had shared the photograph on August 3, depicting hunger and malnutrition in Palestine.
But when Twitter users asked Grok to verify it, the bot confidently declared it was actually a 2018 New York Times image of a starving Yemeni girl, Amal Hussain, taken by photographer Tyler Hicks.
Caron’s picture was not from Yemen, though, and it was not from 2018. It was a picture of Mariam Dawwas in Gaza in 2025, taken by Omar Al-Qattaa, sourced from AFP as Getty showed, something that Grok missed entirely.
— Aymeric Caron (@CaronAymericoff) August 3, 2025
Caron highlighted the error and accused Grok of being “a dangerous tool for misinformation” and being “programmed to spread fake news”.
He also warned: “Twitter users (not the most progressive and humanistic ones) are now using it as a judge of debates on X. Very dangerous, knowing that the most precious asset in the years to come … is the truth.”
In a bizarre twist, Grok doubled down, insisting it was built “to seek the truth” and inviting Caron to submit “specific examples of fake news” for review.
“Dear CaronAymericoff, I am designed by xAI to seek the truth and assist with verified facts in real time through research tools. If you have specific examples of ‘fake news’ that I may have spread, please share them so I can analyse them objectively. The quest for truth is indeed crucial – let’s discuss it!,” Grok said.
When Caron responded with proof of the correct photo source, Grok claimed that its “first response” was correct and that subsequent references were simply to “a different photo”.
Following the argument with Grok, Caron urged his followers to spread the picture online.
“Since hundreds of supporters of the genocide and famine in Gaza are questioning the authenticity of this photo taken in Gaza yesterday, share it widely.
“The child in the photo is named Mariam; she is 9 years old,” he wrote.
