Grok Is Spicy and It Did Not Get the Apple Deal

January 16, 2026

Another dinobaby post. No AI unless it is an image. This dinobaby is not Grandma Moses, just Grandpa Arnold.

First, Gary Marcus makes clear that AI is not delivering the goods. Then a fellow named Tom Renner explains that LLMs are just a modern variation of a “confidence trick” that’s been in use for centuries. I then bumbled into a paywalled post from an outfit named Vox. The write up about AI is “Grok’s Nonconsensual Porn Problem is Part of a Long, Gross Legacy.”

Unlike Dr. Marcus and Mr. Renner, Vox focuses on a single AI outfit. Is this fair? Nah, but it does offer some observations that may apply to the entire band of “if we build it, they will come” wizards. Spoiler: I am not coming for AI. I will close with an observation about the desperation that is roiling some of the whiz kids.

First, however, what does Vox have to say about the “I am a genius. I want to spawn more like me. I want to colonize Mars” superman. I urge you to subscribe the Vox. I will highlight a couple of passages about the genius Elon Musk. (I promised I won’t mention the department of government efficiency project. I project. DOGE DOGE DOGE. Yep, I lied must like some outfits have. Thank goodness I am an 81 year old dinobaby in rural Kentucky. I can avoid AI, but DOGE DOGE DOGE, not a chance.

Here’s the first statement I circled on my print out of the expensive Vox article:

Elon Musk claims tech needs a “spicy mode” to dominate. Is he right?

I can answer this question: No, only those who want to profit from salacious content want a spicy mode. People who deal in spicy modes made VHS tapes a thing much to the chagrin of Sony. People who create spicy mode content helped sell some virtual reality glasses. I sure didn’t buy any. Spicy at age 81 is walking from room to room in my two room log cabin in the Kentucky hollow in which I live.

Here’s the second passage in the write up I check marked:

Musk has remained committed to the idea that Grok would be the sexiest AI model. On X, Musk has defended the choice on business grounds, citing the famous tale of how VHS beat Betamax in the 1980s after the porn industry put its weight behind VHS, with its larger storage capacity. “VHS won in the end,” Musk posted, “in part because they allowed spicy mode.

Does this mean that Elon analyzed the p_rn industry when he was younger? For business reasons only I presume. I wonder if he realizes that Grok and perhaps the Tesla businesses may be adversely affected by the spicy stuff. No, I won’t. I won’t. Yes, I will. DOGE DOGE DOGE

Here’s the final snip:

A more accurate phrasing, however, might be to say that in our misogynistic society, objectifying and humiliating the bodies of unconsenting women is so valuable that the fate of world-altering technologies depends on how good they are at facilitating it. AI was always going to be used for this, one way or the other. But only someone as brutally uncaring and willing to cut corners as Elon Musk would allow it to go this wrong.

Snappy.

But the estimable Elon Musk has another thorn in the driver’s seat of his Tesla. Apple, a company once rumored to be thinking about buying the car company, signed another deal with Apple. The gentle and sometimes smarmy owner of Android, online advertising, and surveillance technology is going to provide AI to the wonderful wonderful Apple.

I think Mr. Musk’s Grok is a harbinger of a spring time blossoming of woe for much of the AI sector. There are data center pushbacks. There are the Chinese models available for now as open source. There are regulators in the European Union who want to hear the ka-ching of cash registers after another fine is paid by an American AI outfit.

I think the spicy angle just helps push Mr. Musk and Grok to the head of the line for AI pushback. I hope not. I wonder if Mr. Musk will resume talks with Pavel Durov about providing Grok as an AI engine for Nikolai Durov’s new approach to smart software. I await spring.

Stephen E Arnold, January 16, 2026

Written by Stephen E. Arnold · Filed Under AI, Business strategy, News

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Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.