Elon Musk’s Grokipedia Emerges: A New Contender to Wikipedia
Elon Musk has unveiled Grokipedia, an ambitious new online encyclopedia that seeks to challenge the well-established Wikipedia. Grokipedia incorporates Grok, a language model chatbot developed by Musk’s AI company, xAI, aiming to provide an innovative alternative to the volunteer-edited platform.
In a bid to differentiate itself, Grokipedia, described by Musk as an antidote to what he terms “Wokepedia,” aspires to be “an open source, comprehensive collection of all knowledge.” Musk’s vision has sparked discussions on how the two platforms cover various controversial topics, while questions arise about what each says about the other.
Exploring the Rivalry
A search for “Wikipedia” on Grokipedia returns approximately 6,047 results, highlighting both the extensive efforts behind Grokipedia and the significant challenge of rivalling an encyclopedia that has developed over nearly 25 years. Conversely, a search for “Grokipedia” on Wikipedia yields 13 results, reflecting its newcomer status.
Interestingly, when searching for “Grokipedia” on Grokipedia itself, no dedicated entry appears, with results primarily focusing on Wikipedia. Attempting to access a Grokipedia page directly via its URL results in a message stating, “This page doesn’t exist … yet.”
Debates on Bias and Content
Grokipedia’s page about Wikipedia acknowledges its extensive reach and influence but also highlights criticisms concerning factual reliability and alleged ideological biases. The article suggests that Wikipedia’s commitment to neutrality can sometimes reinforce institutional biases, particularly from left-leaning perspectives.
Wikipedia, on the other hand, provides information about Grokipedia’s launch as a tool to “purge out the propaganda,” and acknowledges Larry Sanger’s support of the new platform. However, Wikipedia notes criticisms that Grokipedia omits controversial content about Musk and leans right politically, while heavily relying on AI technology for its content.
Media reports and Wikipedia users have observed instances where Grokipedia’s content closely mirrors that of Wikipedia, with some pages being almost identical. In such cases, Grokipedia acknowledges that the “content was adapted from Wikipedia.”
Musk has stated that Grok aims to evaluate information from sources like Wikipedia, striving to “rewrite the page to … remove the falsehoods, correct the half-truths and add the missing context.”
Mechanics and Content Scale
Both platforms maintain detailed records of their article counts. As of late October 2025, Grokipedia’s site reported 885,279 AI-generated articles, while Wikipedia’s page on Grokipedia cited a slightly higher figure from an external source. Wikipedia itself boasts over 7 million English articles, with Grokipedia accurately reflecting this in its entries.
Wikipedia emphasizes its collaborative nature, stating, “Wikipedia’s knowledge is — and always will be — human,” and acknowledges Grokipedia’s reliance on Wikipedia’s open-source content to build its database.
Disclosure: NPR CEO Katherine Maher is the former CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation.
