Musk's Grok reportedly encouraged Trump to capture Venezuela's president
In December 2025, about a month before the U.S. A source told the magazine that Trump spent hours talking to Musk’s Grok chatbot, asking how Venezuelans would react to a possible capture of their leader.
Key points
- In December 2025 Trump reportedly spent hours chatting with Musk’s Grok about Venezuela, according to a source cited by Time.
- Grok allegedly told Trump Maduro was “deeply unpopular” and that many Venezuelans would celebrate his downfall, which later appeared to happen.
- Pentagon officials said Grok was used to deploy strikes in the Iran war and Musk and Anduril’s Palmer Luckey will co‑lead a battlefield study.
Grok allegedly replied that Maduro was a “deeply unpopular dictator” and that many Venezuelans would likely celebrate his downfall. When celebrations occurred after the U.S. invasion on January 3, the source said Trump “came away thinking Grok was ingenious.” Pentagon officials later said Grok was used to deploy and strike targets during the Iran war, and the department announced that Musk and Anduril’s Palmer Luckey will co‑lead a study on advanced battlefield technology.
The claims illustrate how a conversational AI model is reportedly being consulted for geopolitical strategy and military operations, prompting questions about oversight and the influence of private AI systems on public policy.
Musk’s AI chatbot Grok reportedly encouraged Trump to capture Venezuela’s president
TechCrunch AI · 1 October 2026
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This text was published by TechCrunch AI and written by Dominic-Madori Davis. It is reproduced here with attribution so you can read it in full; the rights remain with the publisher. Read it at the source ↗
Coverage and discussion
2sources- Hacker News discussion · 42 pointsnews.ycombinator.com
- Hacker News discussion · 7 pointsnews.ycombinator.com
- U.S. may have overthrown Venezuela due to chat with GrokPress · thedailybeast.com ·
The headline, key points and digest above were generated by Digest AI's editorial model from the linked sources. Automated summaries can contain errors: the sources are the record. Spotted a mistake? Tell us. Published by Martin K., who runs Digest AI and handles corrections.
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