AI vs Humans: How Elon Musk's Grokipedia Differs From Rival Wikipedia

Billionaire Elon Musk has rolled out Grokipedia, an AI-driven alternative to Wikipedia, to combat what he perceives as bias in mainstream online platforms. The site, created by Musk's xAI team, went live on Monday.

At first glance, Grokipedia looks familiar. It has a search bar, a minimalist design, and font styles like Wikipedia. But it runs on a fundamentally different model.

The difference lies in how knowledge is created and managed.

1. Wikipedia functions on crowdsourced collaboration. Millions of volunteers worldwide write, edit, and debate articles under transparent editorial policies. Its strength lies in open discussion, version tracking, and collective oversight. Grokipedia is automation-first, meaning its pages are largely written and edited by AI with limited human moderation. Musk claims this approach will "cut through bias and bureaucracy," allowing algorithms to focus on verifiable facts.
2. Wikipedia is maintained by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organisation that operates several free knowledge projects. Grokipedia is a project of xAI, Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company.
3. A feature of Wikipedia is its open editing process. Every edit is tracked, every revision can be reviewed, and users can engage in public discussions about content accuracy. This transparency has helped the site build trust over time. Grokipedia offers limited transparency. Edits and sources are not always visible, and articles often include a simple "fact-checked by Grok" label without links to supporting evidence or editorial records. Grokipedia represents a top-down, AI-guided experiment, putting focus on speed, scale, and efficiency over community participation.
4. Grokipedia's homepage lists 885,279 articles, compared to Wikipedia's 8 million-plus, suggesting it's still in early stages.
5. Wikipedia is freely accessible and its content can be copied or reused under open-source licensing. Grokipedia is also free to view, but its licensing and reuse policies remain unclear.

Musk's launch follows his long-standing criticism of Wikipedia, which he accuses of harbouring "liberal bias."

Early Grokipedia entries reportedly have shown it leaning towards the conservative way, and several articles appeared to copy Wikipedia's text.

Wikipedia cofounder Jimmy Wales dismissed Grokipedia's prospects, saying AI systems aren't sophisticated enough and will "make a lot of errors" without human oversight.