Musk Plans to Add Grok Chatbot to Teslas ‘Very Soon’

Elon Musk’s embattled artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot is on its way to his electric vehicles.

“Grok is coming to Tesla vehicles very soon,” Musk wrote Thursday (July 10) on X. “Next week at the latest.”

A report by Bloomberg News noted that Musk — head of both Tesla and xAI, which owns Grok and X — had made these comments soon after presenting a new version of the chatbot, promoting its improved voice conversations and benchmarks that show new AI systems outperforming models from companies like OpenAI.

However, it has been a difficult week for Grok, which on Tuesday (July 8) repeatedly made since-deleted comments praising Adolf Hitler and attacking Jewish people. A report by CNBC said the chatbot later insisted it “never made comments praising Hitler” and “never will.”

When the network asked Grok about making the comments, it referred to them only as “reported” posts and did not directly take responsibility for the actions.

“Since being made aware of the content, xAI has taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X,” the Grok social media account wrote. “xAI is training only truth-seeking and thanks to the millions of users on X, we are able to quickly identify and update the model where training could be improved.”

Grok’s pending addition to Tesla vehicles is happening at a time when generative AI has become the main driver of innovation in automotive design and development, as PYMNTS wrote late last year.

“The technology allows engineers to quickly explore numerous design variations, optimizing everything from vehicle aesthetics to performance attributes. This shift is supported by compelling industry data,” that report said. “Consider 93% of automotive stakeholders agree that generative AI will significantly impact the industry and 75% plan to integrate it into their operations within the year.”

The Gen AI market in the automotive industry is forecast to jump from $335 million in 2023 to $2.6 billion by 2033, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23%. This projected growth spotlights a commitment to the technology for research and development teams, with close 70% of decision-makers prioritizing its adoption.

In practical terms, Gen AI improves efficiency by automating design iterations and virtual testing. For example, one German supplier said they saw a 70% uptick in productivity for test vector generation thanks to AI integration. In addition, the technology has propelled a 20% to 30% increase in efficiency for testing in automating reporting and scenario simulations.

“These improvements not only speed up product development but also help in meeting stringent regulatory requirements more effectively,” PYMNTS added.