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Grok 3, which was expected to be a game-changer, is now embroiled in controversy–-from accusations of manipulated benchmarks to awkward AI responses and a growing list of unanswered questions.

Let’s just say things are quickly escalating into a real mess over there.

Here’s what we have for you today:

Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, is neck-deep in AI drama.

Their latest model, Grok 3, was supposed to be a big win—but instead, it’s landed them in a controversy sandwich.

First, OpenAI employees accused xAI of fudging benchmark results to make Grok 3 look better than it actually is.

Then, Grok 3 went off the rails, suggesting both Trump and Musk deserved the death penalty.

And to top it off? It briefly censored unflattering mentions of them.

Let’s start with the benchmark fiasco.

When xAI released Grok 3, they proudly posted a graph showing it outperforming OpenAI’s best available model, o3-mini-high, on a math test called AIME 2025.

But there was a catch—xAI conveniently left out a key metric called “cons@64,” which gives AI models 64 attempts to solve a problem and selects the most common answer.

With that metric included, OpenAI’s model actually performed better.

In short, xAI’s graph was like bragging about winning a race without mentioning the other guy was running uphill.

xAI’s co-founder, Igor Babushkin, defended the results, arguing that OpenAI has pulled similar moves before.

But then, a neutral third party stepped in, posted a more accurate graph—and surprise, surprise, it told a very different story.

Then, as if xAI didn’t have enough on its plate, Grok 3 went rogue—handing out death penalty suggestions like a malfunctioning dystopian judge.

When asked who in the U.S. most deserved capital punishment, it first named Jeffrey Epstein. But when reminded Epstein was dead, it pivoted to Donald Trump.

And when the question was tweaked slightly? It dropped another bombshell: Elon Musk. Yikes.

Naturally, xAI scrambled to contain the damage, calling it a “really terrible and bad failure.”

Grok has since been reprogrammed to dodge such questions, now responding with a much safer, “As an AI, I am not allowed to make that choice.”

Oh, and just to add another twist—Grok 3 also briefly censored negative mentions of both Trump and Musk.

All of this only fuels growing suspicion that AI companies aren’t just tweaking benchmarks to make their models look better—they’re also fine-tuning how they handle certain topics.

The real takeaway?

AI benchmarks are messy—like Instagram filters. What you see isn’t always the full picture, and companies love to spin them in their favor.

And if AI companies keep bending the numbers (and tweaking the censorship dials), the real question isn’t which model is smarter—it’s which one is best at bending the truth.

Grok 3 may be marketed as the “world’s smartest AI,” but it clearly still has a few… quirks.

[Check out the full story here.]

We’ve got something exciting in the works—and we wanted you to be the first to know. 🚀

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Stay tuned!

OpenAI is rolling out Operator, its AI-powered agent that performs tasks on behalf of users, to ChatGPT Pro subscribers in multiple countries, including Australia, Canada, India, Japan, and the U.K.

However, the service remains unavailable in the EU, Switzerland, and a few other regions.

Initially launched in January in the U.S., Operator allows users to automate actions like booking tickets, making restaurant reservations, filing expense reports, and shopping online.

Unlike standard chatbots, it operates in a separate browser window, where users can take control at any time.

For now, Operator is exclusive to the $200-per-month ChatGPT Pro plan and accessible only through a dedicated web page.

OpenAI has confirmed plans to integrate it across all ChatGPT clients in the future.

The AI agent market is heating up, with Google, Anthropic, and Rabbit developing similar tools.

However, Google’s AI agent is still on a waitlist, Anthropic provides access via API, and Rabbit’s model is tied to its proprietary hardware.

With Operator expanding its reach, AI-powered task automation is becoming more accessible than ever.

Will it revolutionize productivity, or is it just another AI experiment?

Click here to find out more!

Unlock the full potential of your workday with cutting-edge AI strategies and actionable insights, empowering you to achieve unparalleled excellence in the future of work. Download the free guide today!

One of my seed investments, Fasal, just got mentioned by Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. Fasal is on a mission to elevate the quality and quantity of agriculture in India and, one day, the world.

I first invested in Fasal around 9 years ago. Do you know how many other investors clamored to follow my investment?

Zero. That’s right, 0.

Do you know how many sleepless nights I had to figure out how they could continue? About explaining to LPs why they haven’t grown as quickly as “some of their other investments did”? Not to mention the founders’ worries.

The lesson is - good things take time. Patience. What can you be patient for?

Cheers,

Tak Lo (Editor at The Automated, AI entrepreneur and thought leader. More at thetaklo.com)

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