Elon Musk's latest political move in Wisconsin has come under intense scrutiny after his own AI tool, Grok, raised flags about the legality of $1 million payouts to his rally attendees.

Musk's America First PAC awarded the money to Green Bay engineer Scott Ainsworth after he signed a petition against "activist" judges just days before the state's Supreme Court election.

The controversy deepened when Grok, the AI system on Musk's platform X, responded to a user asking if the action constituted fraud. "Elon Musk's $1M checks for voting in WI's Supreme Court election likely violate Wisconsin law (Statute 12.11), which bans offering value to induce or reward voting," Grok replied. It added that incentives "could be seen as election bribery."

Criticism mounted after Musk deleted a post saying he would "personally hand over" $2 million to voters who had already participated in the race. He later claimed the payments were meant for "spokesmen" who signed the petition, not necessarily those who had cast ballots.

The move triggered warnings from legal experts and election officials. Bryan Godar, a staff attorney at the University of Wisconsin Law School, said in an email, "The question is whether the offers are 'in order to induce' people to vote or go to the polls, and there can be arguments made on either side of that question."

Elon Musk
Latin Times

Derrick Honeyman, a spokesperson for Democratic candidate Susan Crawford, called Musk's tactics "corrupt," "extreme," and "disgraceful to our state and judiciary."

Jay Heck of Common Cause in Wisconsin questioned whether voters would trust the legitimacy of the process, noting, "Races for the high court are supposed to be on judicial temperament and impartiality, not huge amounts of money for partisan purposes."

Musk has already poured $20 million into the state to boost conservative candidate Brad Schimel, who was endorsed last week by Donald Trump. "All Voters who believe in Common Sense should GET OUT TO VOTE EARLY for Brad Schimel," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Elon Musk Joins President Trump For Signing Executive Orders In
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, accompanied by U.S. President Donald Trump (R), and his son X Musk, speaks during an executive order signing in the Oval Office at the White House on February 11, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump is to sign an executive order implementing the Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) "workforce optimization initiative," which, according to Trump, will encourage agencies to limit hiring and reduce the size of the federal government. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Tags
Elon Musk