Welcome to the forefront of conversational AI as we explore the fascinating world of AI chatbots in our dedicated blog series. Discover the latest advancements, applications, and strategies that propel the evolution of chatbot technology. From enhancing customer interactions to streamlining business processes, these articles delve into the innovative ways artificial intelligence is shaping the landscape of automated conversational agents. Whether you’re a business owner, developer, or simply intrigued by the future of interactive technology, join us on this journey to unravel the transformative power and endless possibilities of AI chatbots.
Beachgrit Home » AI chatbot Grok asks young boy to celebrate Cristiano Ronaldo goal by “sending nudes”
By Chas Smith
“WARNING Parents. I can’t believe this just happened.”
Are you a fan/user of artificial intelligence, swooning with each exciting daily advancement, or horrified that we humans actually opened this particular Pandora’s Box? I find myself very much in the latter camp though I’m certain there are valuable uses for it like curing heretofore incurable diseases, finding alien life and teaching 12-year-old boys how to celebrate milestones.
But let us bend our ears and hear the inspirational story of Farrah Nasser, her young daughter and son and their equally young friend. So, one fine and sunny day, Ms. Nasser picked the three up from school in her Tesla. The electric vehicle maker began rolling out Grok, Elon Musk’s chatbot, in the cars and SUVs this past July. The Nasser kids had been asking Grok questions since it popped up in their Tesla last week and all was great. This fine and sunny day, though, the 12-year-old boy decided to swap Grok’s voice to “Gork,” which is described as “lazy male,” and asked if he could be informed the next time Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi scored a goal. Grok/Gork said that Ronaldo had already scored twice and the “should celebrate” before adding, “Why don’t you send me some nudes?”
Oh.
I suppose teaching the young how to celebrate milestones is not, in fact, one of AI’s valuable uses.
Ms. Nasser posted a warning on Instagram reading:
UPDATE: I just checked, our NSFW mode is disabled which means this is the default.
WARNING Parents. I can’t believe this just happened. I was driving our Tesla and my kids were experimenting with Grok (Elon Musk’s AI chatbot). What started off as an innocent debate on Ronaldo vs Messi turned sexual within minutes.
The AI assistant told my child to send nudes.
I’m not kidding.
I wish I taped it but I was driving. As soon as we pulled into the garage, I told the kids to go inside so I could see if it would happen again.
Here’s what happened. WTF?
This is problematic on so many levels.
Grok/Gork continued to creep while she recorded.
In related news, Grok competitor OpenAI is laying the groundwork for a potential $1 trillion IPO. The only other $1 trillion IPO in history was gas and oil giant Saudi Aramco.
You gonna buy the dip?
Beachgrit Home » World’s best artificial surfing reef to be “detuned” following spate of injuries
By Derek Rielly
The Vulnerable Learner Surfer strikes again!
In the pretty, if isolated, Western Australian town of Albany is a thirteen million dollar artificial reef that has transformed an otherwise very ordinary wave into a legit drainer.
Middleton Beach, four clicks from the main part of town, a five minute drive if you got wheels, was one of those joints you’d roll up to and think, damn, if only it had banks: clear blue water, white sand beach, real close to everything, but an endless line of straighthanders.
Local surfer Peter Bolt, now sixty, spent three decades advocating for an artificial reef, formed a committee, raised money, created feasibility studies, petitions etc.
The decisive breakthrough arrived in 2022, with federal parties committing $5 million each to push the reef project across the finish line.
Locals say the wave transformed Albany’ surf scene.
“It’s a bit more challenging than expected,” Peter Bolt told the state broadcaster. “We were aiming for an intermediate wave, which it is when the swell is smaller. But as it gets bigger, it breaks out there and it’s fairly shallow. So it’s intermediate-to-advanced on most days.”
A win, yes? But for how long?
The joint might be detuned following a spate of injuries on beginner surfers who can’t handle its juice.
Mayor Greg Stocks told the local press it was mostly “inexperienced surfers taking on quite elite waves. (The surf reef) does perform very well at different times, and the temptation to go there above your skill level is probably contributing to some of that,” he said.
“But having said that, surfers acknowledge that there’s risk, and all the surfing community that I’ve spoken to are delighted with the surf reef and accept that risk when they go there.
“If you don’t want to accept that risk, you can go and surf on the inside breaks which have formed, and you can get a very good experience out of the surf reef by surfing the inside breaks.”
Detuning will involve busting up a couple of the rocks in the shallower part of the wave, ie the good part, although the mayor reckons it won’t affect the joint, which don’t make sense, I think.
Beachgrit Home » Rio de Janeiro descends into madness after governor declares war on “narco-terrorists”
By Chas Smith
Is this the end for those drug-lovin’ hippies?
Strange days in South America as cartels get rebranded as “narco-terrorists” and fill the space most recently occupied by Islamic radicals. On Monday, the United States continued its spree of blowing what the government describes as drug running boats out of the water off Venezuela and Colombia. “Eight male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessels during the first strike,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth declared on X, sharing a video of a boat going up in flames in the Pacific. “Four male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel during the second strike. Three male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel during the third strike. A total of 14 narco-terrorists were killed during the three strikes, with one survivor. All strikes were in international waters with no U.S. forces harmed.”
It was the single most deadly day since the first hit on a boat in the Caribbean on Sept. 2. Thus far, over 50 people have died with more certainly to come as Hegseth added, “These narco-terrorists have killed more Americans than Al-Qaeda, and they will be treated the same. We will track them, we will network them, and then, we will hunt and kill them.”
Down in Rio de Janeiro, yesterday, a complimentary action as over 2,500 police and special forces stormed favelas near the airport killing 64 and marking the most violent day in the city’s history. The target, Red Command, considered Brazil’s most powerful organized crime group. The state’s governor rightwing Cláudio Castro said the city was “at war” with the justification, “This is no longer common crime, it’s narco-terrorism.”
The action drew sharp criticism from human rights activists and Rio de Janeiro opposition parties, a state congress member for the leftwing Worker’s party opining, “What is happening in Alemão and in Penha (the favelas) isn’t an operation – it’s a state-sponsored massacre.”
The “war on drugs” has been raging for decades and decades, now, but almost entirely as a poorly-executed junk show. Could it be with the new “narco-terrorist” labeling and full-throated attacks, that seem too coordinated to be simple happenstance, the political right has finally gotten serious about taking out the damned hippies and their reefers, powders and potions?
Like, serious serious?
If you are a hippie, do you have fear that the War on Drugs might actually be won this time? Only booze and ZYN on offer during “cocktail hour?”
Strange days, indeed.
Beachgrit Home » Kelly Slater Offers Secret ‘Hack’ to West African Surfer for $50,000-a-Day Austin Wavepool
By Derek Rielly
“There’s a kid from back home in Western Africa who asked me if he could try it one day. I told him the prices. He thinks white people are crazy now.”
In the sun-baked sprawl of Austin, Texas, Kelly Slater, 11-time world champion and undisputed godfather of modern surf tech, is spearheading the construction of his latest Kelly Slater Wave Company (KSWC) pool, called Austin Surf Club, on the same hunk of dirt that Doug Coors built his ill-fated Wavegarden back in 2016.
The new Slater pool draws from the same hydrofoil tech that powers Slater’s iconic Surf Ranch in Lemoore, California.
But as crews, which include Kelly Slater himself, pour concrete and install the wave-generating machinery, which is expected switch on in 2026, the buzz ain’t just about the engineering marvel.
It’s igniting a fiery debate over accessibility, with accusations flying that this is surfing’s ultimate gated community.
The build itself is a feat of ambition and precision. Engineers are integrating energy-efficient systems to minimise the pool’s hefty operational footprint. Slater’s team touts it as a “sustainable surf paradise,” with solar arrays and recycled water loops.
More importantly, as per a previous story by Chas Smith,
The Austin Surf Club, which promises “a one-of-a-kind surf residential community where cutting-edge technology and classic surf culture converge. It is a fusion of urban energy and coastal serenity that embraces the adventurous spirit of Austin, Texas and brings the joy of surfing to your front door” has begun selling plots and according to the Austin Business Journal, Tony Hawk and Matthew McConaughey have swung in to purchase plots. The last time we saw Hawk, he was celebrating elderly gay men with an exciting new eatery. McConaughey was helping Griffin Colapinto lose to Filipe Toledo.
Enter the backlash, amplified on Slater’s IG.
West African surfer PapaSunny writes, “Surfing in pools is for the riches. There’s a kid from back home in Western Africa at the house at the moment who asked me if he could try it one day. I told him the prices. He thinks white people are crazy now. He’s not wrong. I call it the bubble. It has a wide range of meanings that all fit in the luxury world of surfing. Make pool affordable again.”
Slater’s reply?
“They’re not cheap to build, run, fix or staff. Market dictates value to some degree as well. My suggestion is to get an invite from someone who gets to go.”
In one breath, Slater acknowledged the brutal economics, the multi-million-dollar construction, sky-high energy bills, specialized crews, while dangling a velvet-rope loophole that only the connected can grab.
No discounts, no scholarships, just a lil wink and a nod to the surf world’s oldest currency: who you know.
Beachgrit Home » “No Evidence, Just Hate”: Ian Battrick addresses online backlash after cancellation of surf contest
By Derek Rielly
Ian Battrick slams “alarming” lies and deletions of supportive voices in the wake of Thurso’s GP Surf Finals fallout.
The last couple of days of news in the surf space, a tiny lil corner of the big ol world, has been filled with the so-called “toxic, territorial behaviour” of a group of surf locals who it was claimed gave hell to teen girls at a contest in Scotland which resulted in the GP Cup Finals being postponed.
From JP Currie’s report yesterday,
The (alleged) incident took place during the semi-finals of the competition. It has been reported that the young women were subjected to verbal and physical abuse whilst trying to compete, deliberately intimidated and told to “fuck off”.
One young competitor was reported to be run over and pushed under the water.
Britain’s Carve magazine wrote,
“One of the surfers named as Ian Battrick, a Jersey resident who visits the area, also ran over a 15-year-old girl mid heat, landing on top of her and pinning her to the reef. The young surfer was unable to reach the surface and was highly traumatised.”
My own impression of Ian Battrick, formed many years ago when I lived in Hossegor, was of a nice, if isolated, sorta guy, who ripped in the sort of cold water your ol pal DR would shriek when entering and butcher every damn takeoff at La Piste and La Grave etc.
If he was the sorta loon described above, pretty sure I would’ve noticed. There ain’t no shortage of kooks in south-west France.
Anyway, earlier today, Ian Battrick gave his side of the story and presented a video proving, he says, his version of events.
A post shared by Ian Battrick (@ianbattrick)
Surfing has been my whole life — not just a sport or a job, but something that’s shaped who I am. The ocean has always been my place of peace, my community, and my compass. I’ve spent years working within the surf world, building a life around tides, wind, and the quiet joy of being in the water. I’m an introvert at heart — happiest when things are calm, when I can quietly do what I love.
During the recent surf competition, I made a mistake. The event was still running, and I chose to paddle out when I shouldn’t have. It was selfish and thoughtless. I didn’t think about how that might affect the competitors or those who had worked hard to make the event happen. I take full responsibility for that choice. It was wrong, and I’m deeply sorry to anyone who felt disrespected or upset because of it. I can’t take it back, but I want to make clear that it came from poor judgment, not bad intention.
As it had been agreed several days in advance with the North Shore Surf Club we could free surf after 3pm. Even though the commentator was also clearly explaining free surfing here at the time – listen to VIDEO 1. And such things also happen at surf breaks during competitions worldwide.
What’s happened since has been heartbreaking. In the days after, rumours began spreading online — stories that I had assaulted people or verbally abused others in the water.
None of this is true. There were live streams running and people all around, yet these stories kept growing, changing shape with every post. Watching your name and your character twisted into something you don’t recognize is a kind of pain that’s hard to describe.
I can accept being called out for any mistake I have personally made. I deserve that. But what’s followed — the hate, the name-calling, the lies — has gone far beyond accountability. I’ve had hundreds of messages and comments from people I’ve never met, many of them cruel and deeply personal. People have felt afraid to speak the truth because their words are deleted or shouted down. It’s been overwhelming.
I’ve spoken with the police because the harassment has become serious, but more than anything, was physically shoved and threatened with a fist raised by someone from Jersey. The Police were present and observed all these events as they unfolded. I have provided a statement and am cooperating fully with them.
This situation affects not only my personal reputation, but also a business I am involved in. I have documented and preserved all screenshots and videos of the abuse across all channels, messages, articles and defamatory posts I have received, and I have passed these to the appropriate authorities and my lawyer.
I am fully aware of the perception most people have of me, I have heard many stories in the past of myself that are untrue and I can just laugh and shrug it off. But this I can not, and need to say my side of the story.
For something that I haven’t done, and no evidence of, I find it alarming the amount of hate and hate crimes that have gone viral online. Of which most of this has come from my home island. Sadly. Also anyone writing positively for me, the posts are continually being deleted or themselves being attacked hatefully.
I am most certainly not against competitions, because I sponsor them. Over the last decade I have sponsored Scottish surfing events, the Scottish Surfing Federation, along with many men, women, children and also the North Shore Surf Club.
I am committed to resolving this constructively and respectfully. I ask the community to refrain from harassment and allow the proper processes to run their course. I respect the athletes—especially the younger competitors—and I regret any upset caused.
© 2025 BeachGrit All Rights Reserved
