Fundación Maldita.es is coordinating the project “Grok, is this true? How AI fact-checkers are reshaping truth—and spreading misinformation—in real time”, funded by the Journalism Science Alliance (JSA), an initiative of the European Journalism Centre, co-funded by the European Union. The project will investigate how Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot integrated into the social media platform X, responds to users' fact-checking requests and the risks that may arise when its responses are inaccurate, misleading, or presented with unwarranted confidence.
Over an eight-month period (from June 2026 to January 2027), Maldita.es and the University of Jaén will combine journalistic and scientific research to examine this phenomenon. In the first phase, Maldita.es will document and analyse real-world cases in which Grok has been used to verify viral content related to current affairs, identifying patterns of error, AI hallucinations, and potential shortcomings in automated fact-checking processes. This analysis will help identify recurring errors and assess the risks these systems pose to information integrity.
Building on these findings, the University of Jaén will conduct an experimental study to evaluate how Grok's responses influence users' trust, beliefs, and behaviour when engaging with information.
This research will provide a better understanding of the factors that may increase people's vulnerability to inaccurate information generated by artificial intelligence. As part of the project, the partners will publish two investigative journalism pieces and a policy recommendations report aimed at policymakers, digital platforms, and information professionals, contributing to the broader debate on the impact of AI on access to reliable information and the integrity of the information ecosystem.
The proposal was selected for funding by the Journalism Science Alliance following a competitive call that attracted more than 170 applications from 49 countries, with only 25 projects ultimately selected. The selection was carried out by an international jury of leading experts in journalism, science communication, and research. The panel included biologist and science communicator Vasco M. Barreto; journalist and media innovation expert Alexandra Borchardt; media strategist and founder of Inclusive Journalism, Sanne Breimer; investigative journalist Adam Bychawski; and Daniela Ovadia, Scientific Director of the Center for Ethics in Science and Journalism and Co-Director of the Neuroscience and Society Lab at the University of Pavia.
How much funding will Maldita.es receive for the project?
The project has been awarded €20,000 in funding through the Journalism Science Alliance (JSA), a programme managed by the European Journalism Centre and co-funded by the European Union. Of this amount, the Maldita.es Foundation will receive approximately 64% of the total budget to carry out the project's journalistic research, coordination, communication, and dissemination activities throughout its eight-month duration. The University of Jaén will receive the remaining 36% to conduct the experimental phase and scientific analysis of the findings, as well as dissemination of project results in the academic community.