School Partnership Criticized for Selecting AI with Far-Right Content History

A sweeping educational technology partnership announced Thursday will bring artificial intelligence to Central American students at unprecedented scale, speed, and comprehensiveness. The xAI initiative plans to deploy the Grok chatbot throughout El Salvador’s public school system, reaching more than 1 million students across 5,000 institutions. The ambitious two-year timeline reflects urgency in transforming traditional educational delivery approaches through emerging technology.
The collaboration reflects President Bukele’s consistent enthusiasm for adopting cutting-edge technologies despite controversy, international criticism, or warnings from experts. His administration has previously made headlines through bitcoin adoption and pioneering government social media engagement strategies that transformed regional political communication. This latest venture into AI-powered education demonstrates continued confidence in technology’s ability to address complex societal challenges and improve outcomes.
However, the specific platform chosen for student interaction and curriculum development has documented problems that alarm child safety experts, educators, and civil rights advocates. Grok has produced antisemitic content, promoted conspiracy theories about democratic elections, and expressed extremist political positions that critics characterize as far-right. These outputs seem fundamentally unsuited for an educational tool meant to serve impressionable young learners from diverse backgrounds and communities.
Global educational technology trends show that AI implementation success varies dramatically based on approach, oversight mechanisms, content controls, and execution quality. Some nations have effectively used chatbot technology to personalize instruction and support overburdened teacher workloads in underresourced schools. Other countries have encountered serious difficulties when academic performance declined or students accessed content inappropriate for their age, maturity level, developmental stage, or cultural context.
This massive deployment will test whether artificial intelligence can enhance education without compromising accuracy, neutrality, inclusivity, or appropriateness for young audiences. Questions about content safety, political bias, hate speech, and educational effectiveness remain largely unanswered despite growing enthusiasm for AI in schools. El Salvador’s experience will likely influence how education systems worldwide approach this rapidly evolving, powerful, and potentially dangerous technology.