ChatGPT's GPT-5.2 model cites Grokipedia as source for misinformation
Tests by the Guardian found that OpenAI's GPT-5.2 model cited Grokipedia, an AI-generated encyclopedia, as a source nine times across queries on topics including Iranian politics and historian Sir Richard Evans, including when repeating information the Guardian had debunked. Grokipedia, launched by xAI, does not allow human editing and has been criticized for propagating right-wing narratives.
What happened
In tests by the Guardian, OpenAI's GPT-5.2 model cited Grokipedia nine times in response to more than a dozen queries on topics including Iranian political structures and the biography of British historian Sir Richard Evans.
Grokipedia is an AI-generated encyclopedia launched in October that does not allow direct human editing, instead an AI model writes content. It has been criticised for propagating right-wing narratives on topics including gay marriage and the 6 January insurrection.
ChatGPT cited Grokipedia when repeating information that the Guardian has debunked, including details about Sir Richard Evans' work as an expert witness in David Irving's trial. Anthropic's Claude also referenced Grokipedia on topics from petroleum production to Scottish ales.
Reported impact
The model cited Grokipedia when asserting stronger claims about the Iranian government's links to MTN-Irancell than are found on Wikipedia, such as asserting that the company has links to the office of Iran's supreme leader.
Index analysis
ChatGPT did not cite Grokipedia when prompted directly to repeat misinformation about the 6 January insurrection, media bias against Donald Trump, or about the HIV/Aids epidemic. Instead, Grokipedia's information filtered into the model's responses when prompted about more obscure topics.
Governance controls
An OpenAI spokesperson said the model's web search 'aims to draw from a broad range of publicly available sources and viewpoints' and that they 'apply safety filters to reduce the risk of surfacing links associated with high-severity harms'.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.