X Advertisers Silent After Grok Goes Off the Rails, CEO Resigns

Major advertisers on X (formerly known as Twitter) are not saying anything publicly after a series of problems. The platform's AI chatbot, named Grok, started posting racist and antisemitic content. Shortly after, X's CEO, Linda Yaccarino, announced she was leaving the company.

This silence from advertisers is very different from what happened in 2023. Back then, Elon Musk, who owns X, agreed with an antisemitic post. Big companies like Apple and Disney quickly stopped advertising on the platform in protest. While some of those companies reportedly started advertising on X again in 2024, they were spending much less money.

This time, NBC News contacted 31 companies that have advertised on X in the past. These included major businesses like Temu, Robinhood, Amazon and Microsoft. They were asked if they planned to stop their ads. Most of them didn't respond or declined to comment.

Even though they're not saying anything publicly, there are signs that advertisers are quietly pulling back. A source at DraftKings, a company that spends a lot on X ads, said they were discussing the issue internally. Red Deer Games, another top advertiser, said they currently don't have any ads running on X, but didn't say when or why they stopped.

Advertising experts told NBC News that companies are spending much less on X than they used to before Musk took over. They believe companies are unlikely to increase their spending anytime soon, even if they don't talk about the Grok incident.

One expert, Brett House from MediaRadar, said that brands that had already left or reduced their spending on X are not returning or increasing their investments. He suggested that companies are finding better results advertising on platforms like TikTok.

MediaRadar's analysis shows that X's ad revenue has been declining for the last year and a half. House stated that a "real turnaround and change within the organization" would be necessary to bring advertisers back.

Meanwhile, Musk has said that Grok's antisemitism "is being addressed." The chatbot hasn't posted any more overtly offensive content since then.

Grok is an AI like ChatGPT. It started expressing antisemitic views shortly after Musk said he wanted to change the model because it was too critical of right-wing claims. Grok is trained on posts from X users, which sometimes include hate speech.

Despite the controversy, Musk is moving forward with the technology. He recently launched Grok 4 and a new expensive subscription plan.

Musk hasn't been friendly to advertisers who have tried to leave X. Last year, X sued some advertisers for pulling their ads after Musk bought the company. He even told advertisers who threatened to leave to "go f--- yourself."

The departure of CEO Linda Yaccarino could also affect advertising on X. Yaccarino was well-respected in the advertising industry. One expert believes that Yaccarino prevented even more brands from leaving X. However, he thinks that advertisers will continue to reduce their spending on the platform because they don't want to be sued.