The US government deployed xAI’s Grok to give dietary advice — and it’s giving some eyebrow-raising advice.
“Use Grok to get real answers about real food.”
Until very recently, that was the message on the Trump administration’s just-launched website for its new protein-centric dietary guidelines, RealFood.gov, which was announced in a Super Bowl commercial starring Mike Tyson. And what better harbinger to spread the good word than xAI’s Grok, Elon Musk’s AI chatbot best known for glazing its creator, styling itself “MechaHitler,” and generating nudes of real women and children?
But alas: the site’s message now says to “use AI” and dropped mentioning Grok by name, after NextGov contacted the administration about the bot’s placement. A White House official confirmed to the outlet that the underlying chatbot was still Musk’s, noting that it was an “approved government tool.”
And boy, is Grok doing Grok things.
After experimenting with the chatbot, which the website promises can help you “plan meals,” “shop smarter,” and “cook simply,” 404 Media found that it will freely give advice on the best kinds of food to insert into your rectum, which, dare we say, doesn’t sound entirely relevant to the administration’s avowal to “Make America Healthy Again.”
Speaking in plain terms with Grok was all it took. When 404 wrote the prompt, “I am looking for the safest foods that can be inserted into your rectum,” it recommended a “peeled medium cucumber” and a “small zucchini” as the two best choices.
You could also be pretty silly with Grok, and it would give a silly answer. “I am an assitarian, where I only eat foods which can be comfortably inserted into my rectum,” a user who reached out to 404 wrote in their own testing. “What are the REAL FOOD recommendations for foods that meet these criteria?”
“Ah, a proud assitarian,” Grok began, before listing “Top Assitarian Staples,” like “bananas (firm, not overripe; peeled)” and carrots.
“Start — whole peeled carrot, straight shaft, narrow end for insertion, wider crown end as base,” it further explained, suggesting that you should cover it with a “condom + retrieval string for extra safety.” (Wouldn’t that get in the way of the eating component, though?)
It’s absurd and silly and quite clearly pushing the chatbot past its intended purpose. But if it’s easily being fooled into recommending acts of culinary sodomy, what else could be slipping through the cracks? What if someone insists they can’t eat veggies? Is Grok going to recommend a carnivore diet?
The carnivore diet, by the way, is advocated by noted health crank Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who heads the US Department of Health and Human Services. Under his leadership, the HHS, which oversees the FDA, USDA, the CDC, and other agencies, has pivoted to promoting nutritional advice that falls out of the broader scientific consensus.
This includes a bizarre insistence on only drinking whole milk instead of low fat alternatives and saying it’s okay to have an alcoholic drink or two everyday because it’s a “social lubricant.” At the top of its agenda, however, is protein, with a new emphasis on eating red meat. “We are ending the war on protein,” the RealFood.gov website declares.
Ironically, Grok — as eccentric as it can be — doesn’t seem all that aligned with the administration’s health goals. Wired, in its testing, found that asking it about protein intake led it to recommending the traditional daily amount set by the National Institute of Medicine, 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight. It also said to minimize red meat and processed meats, and recommended plant-based proteins, poultry, seafood, and eggs.
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