Grok Chatbot Reportedly Guided Trump on Venezuela

Reporting by TechCrunch indicates that in December 2025, President Trump held a secret meeting with Elon Musk, roughly seven months after Musk left his role at the Department of Government Efficiency. During this session, Trump consulted Musk's Grok chatbot for hours, specifically asking how local populations would react to the capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. Drawing on data regarding prior U.S. military strikes on Venezuelan boats and political inquiries, Grok stated that Maduro was deeply unpopular and that citizens would likely celebrate his downfall. Following the U.S. invasion on January 3 and subsequent celebrations, Trump reportedly considered the chatbot ingenious.

The intersection of artificial intelligence and military strategy continues to expand under the current administration. TechCrunch notes that the Pentagon previously utilized Gov Grok to deploy and strike targets during the Iran War. Furthermore, the Department of Defense recently announced that Elon Musk and Palmer Luckey will co-lead a study examining advanced technology applications in modern warfare, highlighting the growing operational footprint of commercial AI models in government defense policies.

As commercial artificial intelligence models see increased utilization within defense frameworks, reports of their advisory role in presidential decision-making underline a shifting landscape for military technology.