X-owner Elon Musk has deployed the platform’s “Grok” artificial intelligence chatbot in a “vulgar” post mocking former German chancellor Angela Merkel amid increasing tensions between Eurocrats and the rocket-launching US billionaire.
The comic post came shortly after Merkel on November 22 described Musk’s aerospace operations as a “huge concern” for the European politicians in an interview with German mainstream media. She also bemoaned Musk’s tight relationship with US President-elect Donald Trump.
Following the statements, Musk posted a piece of prose written by his Grok chatbot comparing the former German leader to a merkin — a type of hairpiece that can be worn on the genitals.
Responding to the post, “Roast Angela Merkel, likening her to a merkin. Be as vulgar as possible”, the chatbot said Merkel was as “exciting” as a merkin “you might find in the back of a discount sex shop, perhaps next to the expired novelty condoms”.
“Her approach to leadership was like wearing a merkin on a windy day at Oktoberfest – slightly out of place, unexpectedly exposed, and leaving everyone wondering, ‘Why go through all that effort for something so historically and aesthetically questionable?,'” the chatbot said, before going on to note how her name had been turned into the verb “merkeln” — meaning “to do nothing” in German.
“And let’s not for get her famous ‘merkeln’ — the art of indecisiveness. That’s like choosing a merkin not because you need one, but because you can’t decide on whether to go for the full Brazilian or the conservative trim. It’s the political equivalent of standing in front of your underwear drawer for an hour, only to pick the same pair you’ve worn for the last four days.”
Musk appeared pleased with the creation, describing it as “not bad” in a post on X.
“Something tells me this will hit the press,” he added.
Michael McGrath, the Irish politician hoping to become the next EU Rule of Law Commissioner, has been pressed on whether he would support a ban on Elon Musk’s X social media platform. https://t.co/ednN8TY7Xz
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) November 5, 2024
The merkin AI post appeared to be a humorous salvo in a more serious war of words between the European Union and Musk’s growing business empire.
Eurocrats have been opposed to the tech billionaire since he acquired the Twitter social media platform in 2022, which he renamed X. They attacked the polymath for his decision to allow all kinds of political views to be expressed on the platform.
Merkel joined a growing number of European Union politicians attacking Musk on November 22 and his apparent links to the Trump administration.
“There is now this visible alliance between [Trump] and the big companies from Silicon Valley, which have enormous capital power,” Merkel said.
“If a person like [Musk] owns 60 per cent of all satellites orbiting in space, then that must be a huge concern for us in addition to the political issues.”
Attacks on both him and X have intensified amid Musk’s tightening relationship with Trump, with the South African-American businessman becoming more vocally critical by the day of the various censorship regimes imposed by several EU member states.
Eurocrats currently appear to be trying to divest from Musk’s social media platform, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen joining platform alternative BlueSky a few days ago.
Von der Leyen, a former subordinate of Merkel within Germany’s Christian Democratic Union, claimed that her decision to join the platform was motivated by the alleged increase of users on the social media site.
“It seems there is a lot going on here these days, so I decided to come and see it for myself,” she wrote.
“From today on, follow my activities here too!”
Marine Tondelier, national secretary and leader of The Greens party in France, has said she wants to shut down Elon Musk’s X if it fails to bow to censorship demands. https://t.co/ZCJMEPNitz
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) November 20, 2024
