AI encyclopedia Grokipedia challenges Wikipedia's "throne"

The website grokipedia.com launched on October 28 with more than 800,000 AI-generated articles, compared to nearly 8 million human-edited articles on Wikipedia.

Grokipedia's homepage has a minimalist design, similar to Wikipedia's interface, but with a dark background and more modern typography, and a note that the platform is in beta v0.1.

However, just hours after its launch, many users reported access errors and system disruptions. According to Mr. Musk, Grokipedia is a necessary step to eliminate propaganda and restore objective knowledge.

Grokipedia also has articles about OpenAI - xAI's biggest rival, and many political figures such as Mr. Donald Trump or New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.

According to experts, this project reflects Musk's efforts to build an independent media ecosystem where he can control the direction of information.

On the subject of transgenderism, the site states that "medical evidence for transgender treatment is limited and of low quality," while Wikipedia asserts that "this is an area of scientific study that has spanned decades."

Musk was once a supporter of Wikipedia, but in recent years he has repeatedly criticized the site for distorting information. On X, Musk wrote: "When mainstream media is considered a valid source on Wikipedia, it naturally becomes an extension of mainstream propaganda." He even offered $1 billion if Wikipedia changed its name to "Dickipedia."

Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, expressed skepticism: "AI is not yet sophisticated enough to replace humans in ensuring accuracy." He currently leads Wikipedia's internal working group to strengthen neutrality and encourage research on potential bias.

According to the Wikimedia Foundation, Wikipedia is under increasing pressure from AI: User traffic is down 8% this year, while automated traffic from AI-powered data-collecting bots is up sharply.

“Users trust AI results without verifying them, whether right or wrong,” said Selena Deckelmann, chief technology officer of the Wikimedia Foundation.

With Grokipedia, Elon Musk is not only creating a technological product, but also opening a battle for the right to define knowledge in the AI era. If Wikipedia is considered a symbol of "open knowledge created by humans", Grokipedia represents the ambition of knowledge coordinated by AI and personalized according to the founder's ideology.