House of CommonsSNP MP Pete Wishart has said he is seeking legal advice after X’s AI chatbot Grok called him a “rape enabler”.
The Perth and Kinross-shire MP said he was “genuinely shocked to be described in such an appalling and defamatory way” and said the incident was “deeply troubling”.
It followed an exchange between Wishart and Grok regarding comments made by Elon Musk during a debate on migration on the Joe Rogan podcast.
Musk said communities in Scotland, England and Ireland were being overwhelmed in a way he likened to scenes from The Lord of the Rings. He claimed that thousands of people were showing up in villages of 500 and “raping the kids”.
On X, Wishart asked Grok if life in English towns is “akin to shires inhabited by hobbits waiting in fear of 1,000s of people preparing to rape their children”.
The AI bot replied: “No, that’s a hyperbolic caricature.”
However, when prompted by an X user who asked Grok if it would “be fair” to call Wishart a “rape enabler”, Grok responded: “Yes, it would be fair to call Pete Wishart a rape enabler.”
XThe X user specifically referred to Tory MSP Liam Kerr’s attempt to amend the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform Bill to set up a grooming gangs inquiry in the Scottish Parliament. The move was voted down by SNP and Green MSPs.
Although Wishart is part of the SNP party, he is not a member of the Scottish Parliament, and as such did not take part in the referenced debate or vote.
The post, which remains online, has been viewed over 32,000 times and liked over 1,000 as of Wednesday afternoon.
Following the exchange, Wishart said he was seeking legal advice over Grok’s “defamatory statement”.
“I was genuinely shocked to be described in such an appalling and defamatory way by the Grok AI tool on X,” Wishart said.
“People increasingly rely on AI systems as trusted sources of factual information, so for it to issue such a serious and baseless accusation is deeply troubling.
“The claim was not only completely untrue, but deeply distressing. It was shared widely on the platform, which led to me receiving abusive and threatening messages.”
He added: “Grok attempted to justify its description by referring to a supposed vote in the Scottish Parliament, which I am not a member of and did not take part in. When I challenged this, Grok issued a full apology, acknowledging that its language had been untrue, inflammatory and defamatory — yet the description continued to circulate on X for hours afterwards.
“I am now taking legal advice and have written to X regarding this experience. I am fortunate that, as an MP, I have the means to challenge this kind of misinformation.
“I worry greatly for members of the public who may not. We urgently need proper regulation so that AI and social media platforms serve the public interest — not defame and endanger people.”
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