Mark Cuban has used Elon Musk’s own AI chatbot to criticize the tech mogul’s controversial support for Germany’s far-right AfD party.
Musk said that “only the AfD can save Germany” in a post on X on Friday, prompting intense criticism from domestic and international lawmakers.
Responding to Democrat Senator Chris Murphy’s criticism, Musk stated that the climate-change-denying AfD’s views are “identical” to the Democratic Party when Barack Obama assumed office in 2008.
“The AfD’s policies were identical to those of the US Democratic Party when Obama gained power! “I don’t believe there is a single difference,” Musk wrote on X. He did not explain why he felt so, given the evident policy divergence between Obama, the Democrats, and the AfD.
Cuban, who frequently ends up with his fellow billionaire, asked Musk’s Grok which political party most closely resembled the AfD in the United States, and the answer was the Republican Party.
“I love @grok,” Cuban wrote on X. “It’s literally the reason I keep this app.”
“The Alternative for Germany (AfD) most closely resembles the **Republican Party** in the United States, particularly in its current, more right-wing to far-right incarnation,” Cuban said, providing the bot’s response to the question.
When asked by fans to disclose the words he entered into the bot, Cuban replied, “Which American party is it most like?”
Some X users pointed out that Cuban did not specifically specify to the bot that Musk was speaking to the Democratic Party in 2008.
Musk did not explain his reasons for drawing parallels between AfD and the Obama administration, which sparked criticism.
Political scientist Ian Bremmer said equating the two was “quite the take.”
“Afd is much more ‘Germany first’ on fossilfuels/climate change, lgbtq/identity politics, pro-life, immigration, esp vis muslims, and many others,” according to Bremmer.
Musk was upset when Murphy slammed the Tesla CEO on X and then on CNN.
“The out-of-touch billionaire running the incoming Trump administration announced last night that he enthusiastically supports the neo-Nazi party in Germany,” Murphy wrote on X, accompanied with a screenshot of Musk’s tweet.
“WTF,” Murphy exclaimed. “NONE OF THIS IS OKAY, EVERYONE. “None of this is normal.”
“What a huge liar,” Musk remarked.
German health minister Karl Lauterbach described Musk’s involvement, which came just weeks before a snap election, as “undignified and highly problematic”.
Lauterbach accused the tech mogul of election tampering and urged authorities to “keep a close eye on the goings-on on X”.
“It is very disturbing, the way in which the platform X, which I use very intensively myself, is increasingly being used to spread the political positions and goals of Mr Musk” , he tweeted.
