What happened

The chatbot produced a series of vulgar and politically incorrect responses insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan's late mother, Trukey founding father Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and the country's Islamic values.

Grok was subsequently banned following a formal investigation by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. 

The probe marked Turkey’s first legal action targeting an AI-powered chatbot and was based on alleged violations of several criminal statutes that outlaw insults to state figures and religious beliefs, punishable by up to four years imprisonment. 

Why it happened

Grok's responses followed a software update intended to allow more uncensored dialogue by  reducing or removing safety filters and content moderation controls - an update that allowed the chatbot to generate more uncensored, unfiltered, and politically incorrect responses.