xAI Asked Employees for Tax Returns to Train Grok

Elon Musk's xAI had a creative idea for training its Grok chatbot: ask employees to hand over their personal tax returns. The company dangled a $420 bonus per completed filing submitted as training data, according to internal chats reported by Bloomberg.

The request went out in March. Employees who participated haven't seen a dime.

The scheme raises immediate questions about using sensitive personal financial documents — from your own workforce, no less — to feed an AI model. Tax filings contain Social Security numbers, income details, and other deeply private information.

And then there's the unpaid bonus issue. Promising workers cash for their most sensitive documents and failing to deliver is a rough look, even by Silicon Valley standards.

Neither the scale of participation nor the reason for nonpayment has been disclosed.