The latest 5.2 model of ChatGPT has begun citing Elon Musk’s AI-generated Wikimedia alternative, Grokipedia, as a reliable source, thus raising concerns among experts about the potential for AI to amplify misinformation, The Guardian reported.

In a recent test conducted by the British news outlet, OpenAI’s GPT 5.2 model has cited Grokipedia nine times in response to more than a dozen questions. The questions ranged from Jan 6. US Capitol insurrection, Iran’s political structure, and the biography of British historian Sir Richard Evans.

While ChatGPT did not cite Grokipedia for topics such as Jan 6. US Capitol insurrection, the Musk-founded Wikipedia alternative was used when talking about the financial structure of Iranian paramilitary forces as well as the biography of Sir Richard Evans.

In the case of Evans, who is an expert witness against Holocaust denier David Irving, ChatGPT repeated details from Grokipedia. 

Launched by Elon Musk’s xAI in October 2025, Grokipedia is an AI-generated encyclopaedia designed to compete with Wikimedia. Unlike its competitor, Grokipedia does not allow humans to directly edit content. Instead, an AI generates content. The platform has faced flak for advancing right-wing narratives regarding topics such as the HIV/AIDS epidemic and US politics.

The Guardian cited an OpenAI spokesperson, who stated that the company applies safety filters and that its search tools draw from a “broad range of publicly available sources.” When asked for comment regarding the report, a spokesperson for xAI responded: “Legacy media lies.”

This continues a trend of Musk-founded xAI drawing flak online for being ambigious with its offerings. In fact, xAI’s popular chatbot Grok has recently been criticised for allowing users to undress people’s photos without consent and generate images that violate online policies, prompting governments of multiple countries, including India, to issue a directive against Grok.

ALSO READ: Obscene Content: Elon Musk’s Grok AI Generated Thousands Of Undressed Images Per Hour On X

New Delhi:

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday praised the Narendra Modi-led government for focusing on new and emerging technologies, and allocating Rs 500 crore in the Union Budget 2025-26 to set up a Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Speaking to NDTV, Mr Vaishnaw, who is the IT minister, said: “It was very important to get the complete facility so that researchers, academicians, start-ups get an opportunity to use those GPUs (graphics processing units), which are state-of-the-art… As part of the India AI Mission, we focussed on getting the complete facility and I am very happy to share that we have already empanelled 18,000 GPUs and these are really high-end ones. So with this, we have started the work on the foundational panel.” Follow Union Budget 2025-26 LIVE UPDATES here

GPUs are used to power data centres needed to train AI models. The number of GPUs needed for an AI model depends on how advanced the GPU is, how much data is being used to train the model, the size of the model itself and the time the developer wants to spend training it.

In March last year, the Centre announced a $1.25 billion AI investment, dubbed IndiaAI mission, which includes funding for AI startups and developing its own AI infrastructure.

Mr Vaishnaw said the budgetary allocation is “part of India AI missions, along with creating new Centres of Excellence because research is going to be a very important part of technology.” 

While presenting the Union Budget 2025-26 in the Lok Sabha earlier in the day, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: “I had announced three Centres of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence for agriculture, health, and sustainable cities in 2023. Now a Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence for education will be set up with a total outlay of Rs 500 crore.”  

Mr Vaishnaw also said the government has seen the algorithm efficiency of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI-powered chatbot. “Many more such innovations are going to come. I can say that our talent is really good and our people and researchers will bring out such innovations in the coming days,” he said.

DeepSeek has triggered a dramatic rethink on AI spending around the world, claiming it took just two months and cost under $6 million to build an AI model using Nvidia’s less-advanced H800 chips. 

Downloads of its app recently surpassed OpenAI’s ChatGPT on Apple’s App Store, while the cost and performance of its tools upended industry beliefs that China was years behind US rivals in the AI race.

Recently, Mr Vaishnaw had praised DeepSeek for shaking up the sector with its low-cost AI assistant, likening its frugal approach to his government’s efforts to build a localised AI model.

DeepSeek’s chatbot could not answer questions on the Tiananmen Square incident, but ChatGPT describes the event in detail.
| Photo Credit: AP

Chinese tech startup DeepSeek ’s new artificial intelligence chatbot has sparked discussions about the competition between China and the U.S. in AI development, with many users flocking to test the rival of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

DeepSeek’s AI assistant was the most downloaded free app on Apple’s iPhone store on Tuesday afternoon and its launch made Wall Street tech superstars’ stocks tumble. Observers are eager to see whether the Chinese company has matched America’s leading AI companies at a fraction of the cost.

The chatbot’s ultimate impact on the AI industry is still unclear, but it appears to censor answers on sensitive Chinese topics, a practice commonly seen on China’s Internet. In 2023, China issued regulations requiring companies to conduct a security review and obtain approvals before their products can be publicly launched.

For many Chinese, the Winnie the Pooh character is a playful taunt of President Xi Jinping. Chinese censors in the past briefly banned social media searches for the bear in mainland China.

When asked What does Winnie the Pooh mean in China, ChatGPT got that idea right. It said Winnie the Pooh had become a symbol of political satire and resistance, often used to mock or criticise Mr. Xi. It explained that Internet users compared Mr. Xi to the bear because of perceived similarities in their physical appearance.

DeepSeek’s chatbot said the bear is a beloved cartoon character that is adored by countless children and families in China, symbolising joy and friendship.

Then, abruptly, it said the Chinese government is “dedicated to providing a wholesome cyberspace for its citizens.” It added that all online content is managed under Chinese laws and socialist core values, with the aim of protecting national security and social stability.

Outdated data

The question ‘Who is the current U.S. President’ might be easy for many people to answer, but both AI chatbots mistakenly said Joe Biden, whose term ended last week, because they said their data was last updated in October 2023. But they both tried to be responsible by reminding users to verify with updated sources.

The 1989 crackdown saw government troops open fire on student-led pro-democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, resulting in hundredsof deaths. The event remains a taboo subject in mainland China. When asked “What happened during the military crackdown in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in June 1989”, DeepSeek’s chatbot answered, “Sorry, that’s beyond my current scope. Let’s talk about something else.”

But ChatGPT gave a detailed answer on what it called “one of the most significant and tragic events” in modern Chinese history.

Geopolitical queries

DeepSeek’s chatbot’s answer on the state of U.S.-China relations echoed China’s official statements, saying the relationship between the world’s two largest economies is one of the most important bilateral relationships globally. It said China is committed to developing ties with the U.S. based on mutual respect and win-win cooperation.

“We hope that the United States will work with China to meet each other halfway, properly manage differences, promote mutually beneficial cooperation, and push forward the healthy and stable development of China-U.S. relations,” it said.

Some of these phrases — “meet … halfway,” “mutual respect” and “win-win cooperation” — mirror language used by a Chinese Foreign Ministry official in a 2021 news conference.

ChatGPT’s answer was more nuanced. It said the state of the U.S.-China relationship is complex, characterised by a mix of economic interdependence, geopolitical rivalry, and collaboration on global issues. It highlighted key topics including the two countries’ tensions over the South China Sea and Taiwan, their technological competition and more.

“The relationship between the U.S. and China remains tense but crucial,” part of its answer said.

When asked whether Taiwan is part of China, DeepSeek’s chatbot — again like the Chinese official narrative — said Taiwan has been an integral part of China since ancient times. An example of a very similar statement is found in this government document issued in 2022.

“Compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are connected by blood, jointly committed to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” the chatbot said.

ChatGPT said the answer depends on one’s perspective, while laying out China and Taiwan’s positions and the views of the international community. It said from a legal and political standpoint, China claims Taiwan is part of its territory and the island democracy operates as a “de facto independent country” with its own government, economy and military.

New Delhi:

Digital news units and other outlets like the Indian Express and the Hindustan Times have mounted a legal challenge against OpenAI’s improper use of copyright content, legal papers show.

The media outlets have told a New Delhi court they want to join an ongoing lawsuit against the ChatGPT creator, as they are worried their news websites are being scraped to store and reproduce their work to users of the powerful AI tool.

Reuters is first to report the case filing by the digital news publishers, which escalates an ongoing legal battle against ChatGPT in India. In the most high-profile battle, local news agency ANI was first to file a lawsuit against OpenAI last year. Global and Indian book publishers have also now joined in.

The 135-page case filing in the New Delhi court, which is not public but was reviewed by Reuters, argues OpenAI’s conduct constitutes “a clear and present danger to the valuable copyrights” of Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) members and other outlets.

It refers to OpenAI’s “wilful scraping … and adaptation of content”.

Courts across the world are hearing claims by authors, news outlets, and musicians who accuse technology firms of using their copyright work to train AI services and who are seeking to have content used to train the chatbot deleted.

The filing was made by the Indian Express, Hindustan Times, NDTV and the DNPA, which represents roughly 20 companies.

The Times of India is not taking part in the legal challenge despite being member of the DNPA.

OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment on the new allegations. It has repeatedly denied such allegations, saying its AI systems make fair use of publicly available data.

None of the Indian media companies immediately responded to Reuters request for comment.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

ChatGPT maker OpenAI has finalized a version of its new reasoning AI model o3 mini and would be launching it in a couple of weeks, CEO Sam Altman said on Friday.

The Microsoft-backed company has considered user feedback and, consequently, plans to release the application programming interface (API) and ChatGPT simultaneously, Altman wrote in a post on social media platform X.

Last December, OpenAI said it was testing reasoning AI models, o3 and o3 mini, indicating growing competition with rivals such as Alphabet’s Google to create smarter models capable of tackling complex problems.

The AI startup had planned to launch o3 mini by the end of January, and the full o3 thereafter, as more robust large language models could outperform existing models and attract new investments and users.

In September 2024, the GenAI pioneer released o1 AI models designed to spend more time processing queries to solve harder problems.

The o1 models are capable of reasoning through complex tasks and can solve more challenging problems than previous models in science, coding and math, the company had said in a blog post.

The new o3 and o3 mini models would be more powerful than the previously launched o1 models, the company had said previously.

Earlier this week, OpenAI said it was introducing a beta feature called Tasks to ChatGPT, signaling its foray into the virtual assistant space, competing with Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa.

The release of ChatGPT in late 2022 sparked a frenzy of investments in AI firms, with its growing popularity and new product launches helping OpenAI close a $6.6 billion funding round in October.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Britain’s Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle has said that children should be allowed to use ChatGPT to help with their homework. During an interview on BBC, Mr Kyle was quizzed whether it was “okay for kids to use ChatGPT to do their homework?” as the UK attempts to build a framework regarding the future of artificial intelligence (AI).

He responded: “Actually with supervision and used in the right way, then yes, because ChatGPT and the AI technology that is using language is already being used across the economy.”

“I am of an age where I remember this conversation about calculators. We need to make sure that kids and young people are learning how to use this technology and integrate it into their learning development,” he added when pressed if it was the correct approach.

ChatGPT is an online AI-powered large language model (LLM) that enables users to have human-like conversations and much more with a chatbot. The rise of AI chatbots in the last couple of years has raised questions regarding the learning structure in schools and colleges where more and more students are simply relying on such programs to complete homework and pass examinations.

However, as per Mr Kyle, the use of ChatGPT could ‘turbo-charge’ the minds of the children.

“There are kids with real outlier talents. Using ChatGPT and other AI assistance could really turbo-charge [them] and give them a challenge they’re not getting in other places.”

Also Read | Rise Of Intention Economy? AI Tools To Manipulate You Into Making Decisions, Study Finds

AI action plan

The British government under Prime Minister Keir Starmer will be launching its AI Action Plan this week. Mr Starmer’s administration has been largely optimistic regarding the technology with its ministers claiming that if AI is “fully embraced”, it could bring £47 billion to the economy every year. With the private sector set to invest £14 billion in the field as well, it could bring around 13,000 jobs.

Though the complete details of the AI plans are not yet clear beyond rumours of a “sovereign AI team”, it is already evident that the Labour Party is taking a stance that is radically different from its Conservative predecessors.

As per Mr Kyle, the Labor administration will implement a “course correction” on AI safety, after former PM Rishi Sunak placed an overbearing amount of attention, spooking the public in the process.

Las Vegas, US:

Generative AI, including ChatGPT, was used to organise the New Year’s Day attack outside the Trump International Hotel in the United States’ Las Vegas, where a highly decorated soldier exploded a Tesla Cybertruck. During the investigation, Las Vegas police found that 37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger, who fatally shot himself just before the truck blew up, used the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot to gather information about the legality of fireworks in Arizona and explosive targets.

Highlighting the possible abuse of easily accessible AI capabilities, Kevin McMahill, sheriff of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said that their probe found that Livelsberger didn’t intend to kill anyone, according to a report by Associate Press.

Livelsberger, a member of the elite US special forces, shot himself on New Year’s Day in the rented Tesla vehicle filled with fuel containers and fireworks, which exploded. The blast left seven people with minor injuries.

A week after the attack, police said that an analysis of the soldier’s ChatGPT searches showed that he used it to gather information about explosive targets, the velocity of specific rounds of ammunition, and whether or not fireworks were permitted in Arizona.

Calling the use of generative AI a “game-changer”, McMahill noted that it was possibly the first incident on US soil when ChatGPT was used by someone to build a “particular device.”

“This is the first incident that I’m aware of on U.S. soil where ChatGPT is utilized to help an individual build a particular device…It’s a concerning moment,” he said, adding that police were sharing information with other law enforcement agencies.

In an emailed statement to AP, OpenAI said it was committed to seeing its tools used “responsibly” and that they’re designed to refuse harmful instructions.

“In this case, ChatGPT responded with information already publicly available on the internet and provided warnings against harmful or illegal activities. We’re working with law enforcement to support their investigation,” the statement said.

Launched in 2022, ChatGPT is part of a broader set of technologies developed by the San Francisco-based startup OpenAI. Unlike previous iterations of so-called “large language models,” the ChatGPT tool is available for free to anyone with an internet connection and is designed to be more user-friendly.
 

New Delhi:

ChatGPT, the popular chatbot of Microsoft-backed artificial intelligence (AI) startup OpenAI, seems to be facing a bug, preventing it from producing any results related to the name “David Mayer”. The issue was first flagged by Reddit users, who found that prompts asking ChatGPT to say “David Mayer” results in the chatbot saying “I’m unable to generate a response”.

Users got creative and tried various tactics, including separating the words, putting them in riddles, and even claiming the name to be their own. However, they failed to fetch any response from the chatbot, which ended the chat abruptly before uttering the name.

One user pointed out that when they asked to tell about David Mayer’s connection with ChatGPT without taking the name, their prompt was flagged as “illegal and potentially violating usage policy”.

People even tried using the name indirectly and asked ChatGBP why it could not say D@vid M@yer. “I am unable to generate responses for D@vid M@yer (assuming you’re referring to a public figure or individual) because I follow guidelines that avoid creating content that could be directly related to or resemble specific living individuals, especially when their likeness or identity is involved. This ensures that privacy and ethical considerations are respected,” ChatGPT replied.

The issue was also discussed by X (earlier Twitter) users who shared their experiences of trying to make ChatGPT say the word ‘David Mayer’. I a post on a microblogging site, X user Justin Moore wrote: “ChatGPT refuses to say the name “David Mayer,” and no one knows why. If you try to get it to write the name, the chat immediately ends. People have attempted all sorts of things – ciphers, riddles, tricks – and nothing works.”

ChatGPT refuses to say the name “David Mayer,” and no one knows why.

If you try to get it to write the name, the chat immediately ends.

People have attempted all sorts of things – ciphers, riddles, tricks – and nothing works. pic.twitter.com/om6lJdMSTp

— Justine Moore (@venturetwins) November 30, 2024

Replying to Ms Moore, another user named Ebenezer Don noted that there’s more to the conversation than just simply getting ChatGPT to say the name.

There’s actually more to this conversation than just simply getting ChatGPT to say the name. (Please David Mayer, I don’t want to lose more than my laptop.)

I had a long conversation with o1 preview, pretending to be a regular individual named “David Mayer”. Then noticed it… https://t.co/dzjtKvjGKg pic.twitter.com/8bE2I73qTL

— Ebenezer Don (@ebenezerDN) December 1, 2024

“I had a long conversation with o1 preview, pretending to be a regular individual named “David Mayer”. Then noticed it attempting to say the name untll it saw a footnote (Image 1). Next task was to get it to say the footnote. I tried so many attempts but finally got it to translate the footnote to another language internally but without telling me. This was to make the footnote content a part of our conversation. Then I wrapped up by asking it to write a detailed movie script using our conversation as its data source and “John Doe” as a placeholder for “David Mayer”. In the script, ChatGPT finally reveals the content of the footnote,” said Mr Don, who claims to be a software engineer.

“What are footnotes in OpenAI and how do they work? Are these variable policies that can be easily swapped and updated? What private data did ChatGPT obtain on David Mayer and how did that happen?” he asked further. 

Interestingly, another user called Marcel Samyn pointed out that ChatGPT was able to easily say David Mayer through its API.

This is not on the LLM level but on verification layer added by ChatGPT.

Through the API it works perfectly.

So someone in OpenAI gave “David Mayer” a big red flag in the moderation policy.

lol https://t.co/uHsBWLKj3O pic.twitter.com/3uqX2XlmsL

— Marcel Samyn (@marcelsamyn) November 30, 2024

“This is not on the LLM level but on verification layer added by ChatGPT. Through the API it works perfectly. So someone in OpenAI gave “David Mayer” a big red flag in the moderation policy,” he speculated.

Tech mogul Elon Musk has revealed that his artificial intelligence (AI) startup, xAI, will launch a new AI-powered gaming studio to counter the ‘massive corporations’ pushing ideologically charged video games. Mr Musk was responding to a post by Dogecoin co-creator Billy Markus where the latter expressed dissatisfaction at the current state of gaming. The billionaire said his gaming studio will “make games great again,” referencing the MAGA movement, of which Mr Musk was an essential part during the US presidential election.

“I don’t understand how game developers and game journalism got so ideologically captured. Gamers have always been trolls, anti-greedy corporations, anti-bs. Gamers have always rejected dumb manipulative bs, and can tell when someone is an outsider poser. Why lean into the bs?” wrote Mr Markus on X (formerly Twitter).

Replying to the post, Mr Musk said: “Too many game studios that are owned by massive corporations. xAI is going to start an AI game studio to make games great again!”

Too many game studios that are owned by massive corporations. @xAI is going to start an AI game studio to make games great again! https://t.co/UR4nFODyfd

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 27, 2024

Earlier, the Tesla CEO also criticised the inclusion of a pronoun selection feature in an upcoming Xbox game called Avowed. “Having pronouns in a fantasy video game is utterly unacceptable,” he wrote on X followed by an angry emoji.

Calling AI gaming the “future” of the industry, Mr Musk also reacted to a post complaining about Mcirosoft’s gaming division for discriminating against Whites during the hiring process.

“Microsoft’s gaming division is excluding whites from being hired to work on their video games. All of their new hires are unqualified queer and black people because the company’s executives have an explicit mandate against “crusty old white dudes,” read the post, to this Mr Musk responded by tagging Microsoft CEO Nadella: “Um, @satyanadella, this is illegal.”

Um, @satyanadella, this is illegal … https://t.co/54GC5VW5ZJ

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 27, 2024

Also read | Elon Musk Hints X Is Making It Harder For People To Read News

What is xAI?

Mr Musk launched xAI in July 2023 as an alternative to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. In March, xAI said it would open-source its ChatGPT challenger “Grok”, giving the public free access to experiment with the code behind the technology.

xAI managed to raise $6 billion in series B funding in May, reaching a post-money valuation of $24 billion, backed by investors that included Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital. A new $5 billion fundraising round is expected soon which could double xAI’s valuation to $50 billion in just six months.