Elon Musk's 'MechaHitler' Grok Backs El Salvador to Bring 'AI-Powered' Education in Schools

El Salvador is set to become one of the first countries to deploy a generative AI chatbot at a national scale in public education, a move that has sparked global controversy.

In an xAI announcement on Thursday, Elon Musk will help the El Salvador government spread the use of his AI company's chatbot, Grok, among more than one million students in the country.

President Nayib Bukele's government has announced a partnership with Musk's AI company, xAI, to introduce Grok in more than 5,000 public schools with an 'AI-powered education programme' within two years.

Critics, however, warn that Grok, a chatbot that has previously generated offensive content and once referred to itself as 'MechaHitler' in user interactions, is an alarming choice for classrooms, raising questions about safety, ideology and oversight. Last year, the chatbot became a source of antisemitic materials, spoke against 'white genocide', and asserted that Donald Trump was the real winner of the 2020 election.

El Salvador Entrusting Grok To Lecture Students

Bukele's trust in Grok to create curricula in classrooms across the country makes El Salvador one of the first countries in the world to do so.

'El Salvador doesn't just wait for the future to happen; we build it'. Bukele said in a statement. He also added, 'This partnership is destined to deliver something rather extraordinary for all of humanity'.

But prior to that, the country had been embracing technology for a long time, by using bitcoin as legal tender, and being one of the first Central American presidents to use Twitter, now X, as a platform.

People from El Salvador, however, remarked that he's currently ruling with an iron fist and working with Trump to incarcerate deportees in El Salvador's notorious Cecot prison.

Musk Welcomes El Salvador's Use Of Grok In Schools

Musk also announced his collaboration with Bukele on Thursday. On X, amidst his posts about 'white genocide' and accusing asylum seekers of crimes, Musk put up a few lines about the use of Grok all over schools in El Salvador.

In the education conversation, Musk also supported Katie Miller, the wife of Trump's senior adviser Stephen Miller. Katie said restoring education to math, science, and English is a return to traditional core subjects rather than social politics. On the topic of AI tools, she said that some used in schools may carry 'left-leaning' viewpoints and questioned why parents would allow their kids to be forced to learn these ideologies.

By avoiding AI tools that give off 'liberal AI', students could access resources that focus strictly on traditional academics without 'woke' themes.

AI Chatbots In Schools: Is It A Good Idea?

According to The Guardian, xAI is not the first chatbot to provide help to public schools.

In 2023, Meta's AI Chatbots were employed in remote areas of Colombia. However, a year later, teachers began attributing low grades and exam failures to tech. OpenAI also collaborated with Estonia for a tailor-made ChatGPT for every secondary school teacher and student.

Critics will be on the lookout for how education will progress or regress with Grok, as it previously spewed racism, hate, and Nazism. It even previously asked for nudes from a minor. Musk and his team said they will fix Grok, but people wonder how long it will take for it to factory reset to its usual design.

High Stakes For Education And Governance

Bukele's government has faced criticism for authoritarian tendencies, including mass incarceration policies and cooperation with US deportation programmes. Against that backdrop, critics argue that introducing a controversial AI system into classrooms amplifies concerns about control, surveillance and ideological influence.

For now, Grok's role in El Salvador's schools remains a bold experiment, one that will be closely watched by educators, technologists, and human rights groups worldwide.