Politics
Elon Musk’s Grok claims Nigeria recorded 4m more births than EU
TECH billionaire and owner of X, Elon Musk, has claimed that Nigeria recorded four million more births than the entire European Union in 2024.
Musk stated this on Friday, July 31, 2026, in a post on his official X handle, referencing a query processed by his artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, while sharing a link to the AI conversation.
According to the conversation shared in the post with Grok, the AI tool stated that Nigeria recorded approximately 7.5 million to 7.6 million births in 2024, compared to roughly 3.55 million across the states of the European Union.
Reiterating its estimate during the query, Grok stated, “Yes, the numbers hold up. Nigeria had about seven point five to seven point six million births, while the EU had three point five million in twenty twenty-four. That’s a difference of roughly four million.”
The AI model added that when comparing Nigeria’s birth figures to the entire European continent including Russia, the margin reduces.
“The one million figure comes from comparing Nigeria to all of Europe, including Russia, where the gap narrows to about one point two to one point four million,” Grok noted.
However, the chatbot has repeatedly generated inaccurate reports and false claims.
In August 2024, Grok spread misinformation regarding the deadline for US presidential nominees to be added to ballots in nine federal states following the withdrawal of former President Joe Biden from the race.
In a public letter to Musk, Minnesota Secretary of State, Steve Simon, wrote that within hours of Biden’s announcement, Grok generated false headlines stating Vice President Kamala Harris was ineligible to appear on ballots in multiple states.
In April 2024, the AI model misinterpreted a viral joke about a poorly performing basketball player, publishing headlines in its trending section claiming the athlete was under police investigation for vandalising homes with bricks in Sacramento, California.
Grok had failed to understand the common basketball slang where a player who misses shots is said to be “throwing bricks.”
The ICIR earlier reported that Nigeria’s population, currently at 244 million might reach 450 million by 2050 unless urgent actions are taken to reduce the nation’s fertility rates.
The chairman of the Association for the Advancement of Family Planning (AAFP), Ejike Oji, stated this while addressing journalists at the Media Roundtable for the 8th Nigeria Family Planning Conference in Abuja on Tuesday, November 19, 2024.
Following Oji’s prediction, Nigeria’s population will almost double its size in 26 years.
Zainab Abdulrasaq ia a reporter and a fact-checker with The ICIR. She believes that accountable citizenship starts with an accountable government, which is why she highlights injustice and everyday struggles through her reporting, one story at a time. She adores reading and can be reached via zabdulrasaq@icirnigeria.org and @blackbookishgirl on Instagram/Medium