Elon Musk has left the Indian social media buzzing after he shared a post featuring Lord Ganesha, the Hindu deity of beginnings, wisdom, and prosperity. The post involved a conversation between Musk and his AI assistant Grok, developed by his company xAI.
Musk posted a picture of a brass statue from traditional South Indian iconography and asked Grok, “What is this?” What followed impressed many users. Grok correctly identified the image as a statue of Lord Ganesha and gave detailed information about the god and his symbolism.
Grok’s response was succinct and broad. “This is a small brass/bronze statue of Lord Ganesha, one of the most worshipped Hindu deities,” the chatbot replied. The response enumerated Ganesha’s ‘key identifying features’, an elephant head, four hands, a seated posture, and a mouse at his feet.
The explanation, featuring Grok’s powerful image recognition and synthesis of cultural knowledge, made the post go viral in no time. Thousands of Indian users commented on it, congratulating both Musk and Grok for recognizing a very important figure in Hinduism.
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Indian users hailed the AI for correctly identifying it and Musk for an unexpected cultural nod: “It’s surreal to see Lord Ganesha come alive inside Grok, divinity meets artificial intelligence,” one commented. Another wrote, “Lord Ganesha, remover of obstacles, the ultimate inspiration for Elon’s Mars mission!”
Although some people raised questions over Musk’s motive behind the post, asking “why search for Ganesha now?”, the tech billionaire did not offer any clarification.
This comes amid headlines about Musk’s new Tesla compensation package, reportedly worth Rs. 83 lakh crore ($1 trillion), recently approved by shareholders. It’s a massive figure that cements his position as one of the most influential tech leaders in the world.