Musk’s Grok AI chatbot reportedly urged Trump to capture Maduro
Time magazine reports Donald Trump consulted Elon Musk's Grok chatbot before the U.S. invasion of Venezuela and arrest of Nicolás Maduro in January 2026.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Donald Trump held a secret meeting with Elon Musk in December 2025, spending hours consulting Musk's Grok chatbot.
- Grok advised Trump that Nicolás Maduro was deeply unpopular and locals would celebrate his downfall.
- Trump considered Grok ingenious after the U.S. successfully invaded Venezuela on January 3, 2026.
- The Pentagon recently tapped Elon Musk and Palmer Luckey to co-lead a study on advanced tech in battlefields.
Time magazine reveals that in December 2025, roughly a month prior to the U.S. invasion of Venezuela and the capture of President Nicolás Maduro, Donald Trump held a clandestine meeting with Elon Musk. This encounter took place about seven months after Musk stepped down from his role leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) within the Trump administration.
A source told Time that during this private session, Trump spent hours conversing with Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot. Among the topics discussed, Trump specifically asked how the population of Venezuela would react if their president were captured. This followed military strikes ordered by Trump a few months prior in September against Venezuelan boats suspected of involvement in drug trafficking.
The integration of artificial intelligence into high-stakes geopolitical assessments and military strategy marks a significant turning point in modern governance. Transitioning from a consumer tool to a strategic advisor, AI models like Grok wield profound influence over decision-making processes, prompting critical ethical debates regarding accountability and transparency in state-level crises.
As governments increasingly rely on algorithmic insights for national security, establishing rigorous oversight frameworks becomes imperative to prevent unintended escalations driven by automated recommendations.
Prior to the meeting, the public had already begun querying Grok regarding the boat strikes and the broader political climate in Venezuela, as reported by The Atlantic. Consequently, Grok informed Trump that Maduro was viewed as a deeply unpopular dictator and predicted that many Venezuelans would likely celebrate his downfall, according to Time.
"deeply unpopular dictator and that many Venezuelans would likely celebrate his downfall"
Grok
When those celebrations materialized following the U.S. invasion on January 3, 2026, the source noted that Trump walked away with the impression that Grok was truly ingenious, cementing his confidence in the AI model.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
Grok’s involvement with the U.S. military extends beyond advisory consultations. In June 2026, the Pentagon’s head of AI disclosed that the military utilized Gov Grok to deploy and strike targets during the Iran War. While OpenAI and Anthropic also maintain defense-related arrangements or discussions with the Department of Defense, Musk's footprint within military operations continues to expand.
Demonstrating this deepening relationship, the Pentagon announced earlier this week that Elon Musk and Palmer Luckey of Anduril have been selected to co-lead a comprehensive study evaluating how advanced technologies are deployed in modern battlefields.
Source: TechCrunch
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