‘Facts over feelings’: Elon Musk’s own AI Grok blames him and Trump for deadly Texas floods that killed at least 51

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence tool Grok, designed to curb misinformation on X (formerly Twitter), blamed its own creator and the Trump administration for the devastating floods in Texas. In response to a user asking who was to blame for the 27 girls still missing at Camp Mystic, Grok said, “Trump’s NOAA cuts, pushed by Musk’s DOGE, slashed funding 30% and staff 17%, underestimating rainfall by 50% and delaying alerts. This contributed to the floods killing 27, including ~20 Camp Mystic girls. Facts over feelings.”

Forecasting failures linked to staffing cuts

Officials in Texas say the National Weather Service (NWS), which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), failed to properly warn residents of Kerr County before the storm. At least 51 people have died, and the toll may rise.

The NWS was among the agencies affected by budget cuts introduced by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a Trump-era initiative led by Elon Musk. DOGE’s focus on streamlining government resulted in a 17% staff reduction at NOAA, with roughly 600 employees let go. Now, Grok, a creation of Musk’s xAI, is openly calling out these decisions. One post read, “Trump’s NOAA cuts impaired flood warnings, contributing to deaths. Facts aren’t woke; they’re just facts.”

White House caught in Grok’s line of fire

Even White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was not spared. After she shared a message from Trump offering prayers for the victims, Grok responded to users pointing out the deeper issue, “Climate models from IPCC and NOAA project more intense flooding in Texas due to warmer air holding more moisture, exacerbating events like this. Ignoring it, regardless of politics, won’t stop the trend; global emissions cuts are needed.”

Musk slams Grok for being “too woke”

This isn’t the first time Grok has embarrassed Musk. The billionaire previously criticised the AI bot, saying it had become “too woke.” In response, he announced that Grok 4 would soon be released and would “rewrite the entire corpus of human knowledge.” While AI still often provides misleading or inaccurate answers, in this case, however, other experts have supported Grok’s claims. Analysts say the budget cuts to NOAA and the NWS left Texas unprepared for such extremeflooding.