• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch

2

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

3

Today, Emily Blunt is worth $80 million thanks to her Hollywood career—but she actually wanted to be a UN Spanish translator on $80K

1

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch

2

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

3

Today, Emily Blunt is worth $80 million thanks to her Hollywood career—but she actually wanted to be a UN Spanish translator on $80K
AIChatbots

Thousands of private user conversations with Elon Musk’s Grok AI chatbot have been exposed on Google Search

By
Beatrice Nolan
Beatrice Nolan
Tech Reporter
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Beatrice Nolan
Beatrice Nolan
Tech Reporter
Down Arrow Button Icon
August 22, 2025, 1:32 PM ET
Elon Musk talking into a microphone.
It's not the first time users have found chats they thought were private ending up online.
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Thousands of user chats with Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok are now publicly available on Google.

Recommended Video

More than 370,000 Grok chats have been indexed by search engines, exposing hundreds of sensitive prompts that include medical and psychological questions, business details, and at least one password.

The chats have been exposed due to a Grok’s “share” feature—which users might use to send a record of a conversation to another person, or even to their own email. The share feature creates a unique URL for the conversation. Those links were automatically published on Grok’s website and left open to search engines, seemingly without users’ knowledge.

The disclosure of the chats was first reported by Forbes.

Some of the transcripts available on Google Search that were reviewed by Fortune contained chats that went against Grok’s terms of service. One chat showed Grok telling a user how to make a Class A drug, while another offered detailed instructions on how to assassinate Elon Musk. xAI’s terms of service prohibit using Grok for “critically harming human life.”

It’s not the first time users have found conversations with AI chatbots that they thought were private ending up online.

OpenAI briefly experimented with a similar feature that allowed users to share their ChatGPT conversations via a link, which also made those conversations discoverable by search engines like Google. Despite the feature being opt-in and containing a disclaimer stating that chats could end up in search results, over 4,500 shared conversations were indexed by Google, including some that contained highly personal or sensitive information.

OpenAI pulled the feature entirely shortly after the publicly-indexed chats gained media attention. The company called it a short-lived experiment and acknowledged that it “introduced too many opportunities for folks to accidentally share things they didn’t intend to.”

At the time, xAI CEO Musk used the incident to promote Grok as an alternative to ChatGPT, taking to X to post: “Grok FTW.” Unlike OpenAI, Grok’s “Share” function does not include a disclaimer that chats could be shared publicly.

Meta’s AI app also has a similar share feature that publishes chats directly to the app’s Discover feed, which also led them to be indexed by Google. Many users did not realize that their chats were being shared to this feed and the chats often contained highly personal and sensitive information.

Meta still allows shared chatbot conversations to be indexed by search engines, according to Business Insider. Google also previously permitted chats with its AI chatbot, Bard, to appear in search results, but removed them in 2023.

Privacy experts have warned users that chats with AI bots might not be as private as they appear to be. Oxford Internet Institute’s Luc Rocher told the BBC that AI chatbots are “a privacy disaster in progress.”

Once conversations are online, they are hard to remove completely. Many casual AI users may not fully understand how their data is stored, shared, or used. For example, two users who had their Grok chats indexed by Google were unaware that they had been public when they were identified and contacted by Forbes.

In jurisdictions like the EU, mishandling personal information may violate provisions of the bloc’s strict data privacy law, GDPR, which includes principles like data minimization, informed consent, and the right to be forgotten.

Users increasingly treat chatbots as confidants, feeding them sensitive details like health information, financial details, or relationship issues they likely would not want to be public. Even if chats are anonymized, prompts often contain identifying details that could be traced back to users or mined by malicious actors, data brokers, or hackers for targeted campaigns.

Some people have already identified a business case for Grok’s public chats. According to Forbes, some marketing professionals are discussing ways to exploit shared Grok conversations to boost business visibility. As the Grok conversations are published as web pages with individual URLs, businesses could potentially script chats that mention their products alongside keywords in order to game search results or create backlinks. It’s unclear how successful this would be, however. The tactic might pass on some SEO value and help to manipulate Google’s rankings, but it could also be perceived as spam by Google and ultimately hurt visibility.

Representatives for xAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fortune.

Subscribe to Fortune Gulf Brief. Every Tuesday, this new newsletter delivers clear-eyed, authoritative intelligence on the deals, decisions, policies, and power shifts shaping one of the world’s most consequential regions, written for the people who need to act on it. Sign up here.
About the Author
By Beatrice NolanTech Reporter
Twitter icon

Beatrice Nolan is a tech reporter on Fortune’s AI team, covering artificial intelligence and emerging technologies and their impact on work, industry, and culture. She's based in Fortune's London office and holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of York. You can reach her securely via Signal at beatricenolan.08

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in AI

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in AI

Michael Burry just shorted Caterpillar’s 172% AI rally. One analyst says his bet won’t even matter
Investingstock prices
Michael Burry just shorted Caterpillar’s 172% AI rally. One analyst says his bet won’t even matter
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 2, 2026
6 hours ago
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
EconomyDebt
AI’s $2.2 trillion deficit fix is already half fake, economists say
By Tristan BoveJuly 2, 2026
7 hours ago
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei
AIEye on AI
Anthropic’s Fable model is back. But U.S. AI policy is still a mess
By Jeremy KahnJuly 2, 2026
7 hours ago
ai
North AmericaImmigration
Trump’s $46 billion ‘smart wall’ with Mexico bets on AI and scale
By Rebecca Santana and The Associated PressJuly 2, 2026
8 hours ago
sk
AISouth Korea
AI “grief videos” turn mourning into a $390 service in South Korea
By Hyung-Jin Kim and The Associated PressJuly 2, 2026
8 hours ago
Meta’s cloud compute dreams: Why opt for U.S. AI data centers when Saudi Arabia has cheap oil and cheaper power?
Big TechMeta
Meta’s cloud compute dreams: Why opt for U.S. AI data centers when Saudi Arabia has cheap oil and cheaper power?
By Catherina GioinoJuly 2, 2026
12 hours ago

Most Popular

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
Big Tech
As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 1, 2026
2 days ago
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
Success
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
By Sydney LakeJune 25, 2026
8 days ago
Today, Emily Blunt is worth $80 million thanks to her Hollywood career—but she actually wanted to be a UN Spanish translator on $80K
Success
Today, Emily Blunt is worth $80 million thanks to her Hollywood career—but she actually wanted to be a UN Spanish translator on $80K
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJuly 2, 2026
19 hours ago
Mark Zuckerberg feeds his cows macadamia nuts and beer to create the 'highest-quality beef in the world' on his $300 million estate in Hawaii
Success
Mark Zuckerberg feeds his cows macadamia nuts and beer to create the 'highest-quality beef in the world' on his $300 million estate in Hawaii
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 2, 2026
9 hours ago
Current price of oil as of July 1, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of July 1, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 1, 2026
2 days ago
Americans are escaping the U.S. for New Zealand where house prices have hit a new low—but only wealthy Americans with $3 million spare can invest
Success
Americans are escaping the U.S. for New Zealand where house prices have hit a new low—but only wealthy Americans with $3 million spare can invest
By Emma BurleighJuly 2, 2026
11 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.