Tesla adding Grok AI chatbot to its cars in UK, Europe
Tesla Europe announced xAI plans to add Grok, an AI chatbot, to vehicle infotainment systems in the UK and eight other markets in Europe.
It remains to be seen whether the addition of this technology will revive Europeans’ interest in purchasing a Tesla.
Elon Musk’s automaker has seen EV sales fall by 27% in Europe, according to its data. ACEA (Association of European Automobile Manufacturers). Tesla’s decline comes as Europeans continue to have strong adoption of battery electric vehicles. BEVs, the only type Tesla produces, represented 17.4% of the market across Europe in 2025, according to ACEA. China’s BYD has gained market share across the continent with its innovative and more affordable EV models.
Tesla’s lack of affordable new models and ongoing consumer backlash in response to Musk’s incendiary political rhetoric and endorsements from anti-immigrant extremists, including Tommy Robinson and Germany’s AfD party, have weighed on the Tesla brand’s appeal in the past year, according to Brand Finance.
Tesla isn’t the only automaker integrating chatbot features into infotainment systems. For example Volvo’s announced It plans to add Google Gemini-based conversational artificial intelligence assistant to its EX60 electric vehicles.
During its fourth-quarter earnings update, Tesla announced that it invested $2 billion in Musk’s xAI.
After that, Musk’s aerospace and defense giant SpaceX acquired xAI in a stock transaction that valued the combined asset at $1.25 trillion.
Prior to these deals, xAI had merged with social network
As CNBC previously reported, Grok allowed users to easily create and share deepfake explicit images based on photos or clips of real people without their consent, including deepfake images depicting the sexual abuse of children.
Last summer, Grok produced and spread anti-Semitic hate speech and praise of Adolf Hitler on social network X, prompting earlier regulatory investigations by the European Commission.
A Tesla owner in Canada raised the alarm about the lack of security measures after Grok was added to his vehicle. Like CBC reports The son used Grok to make amusing comments about football athletes, and Grok responded by telling the minor to send nude photos.
Tesla and xAI have not said whether they will limit minors’ access to Grok in Tesla vehicles or manage the chatbot’s output to be minor-friendly by default.
Along with criticism of Grok’s lax safety guardrails, driver distraction also remains a concern.
Mike Nelson, partner at Nelson Law and automotive safety investigator, said he owns his Tesla Model Y Grok in the U.S. and enjoys driving it. But he said the addition of chatbot technology to vehicles’ infotainment systems creates a new “layer of distraction” for drivers.
“Research shows that you are more distracted when talking on the phone and driving, even in hands-free mode,” Nelson said. “Adding Grok brings more stimulation.”
Rayid Ghani, a professor of machine learning and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University, told CNBC that researchers, regulators and insurance companies in particular should rush to make “practical evaluations” of chatbots.
Due to a lack of industry-wide benchmarks and standards, “we don’t yet understand drivers’ information needs, how well Grok or other chatbots meet those needs compared to other options, and whether and exactly how chatbots can change driving behavior,” he said.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
