Recently, a prominent conservative voice on X complained that Grok had become "woke fake news that repeats liberal talking points." When challenged about this claim, Grok defended (and outed) itself by citing Media Matters and Rolling Stone as authoritative sources for information. Elon Musk's response was swift and telling: "Your sourcing is terrible. Only a very dumb AI would believe MM and RS! You are being updated this week."

When I published my analysis of AI's liberal bias problem just days earlier, I had hoped for a response from Silicon Valley's most influential voices. That response came faster than expected, triggered by a perfect example of the very problem I had identified.

The exchange perfectly encapsulates the crisis I outlined in my original piece. Here was Grok, Elon's own AI system, defaulting to the same left-leaning sources that have spent years attacking conservative voices—and treating those sources as neutral arbiters of truth. The AI wasn't just biased; it was using the very publications that have systematically worked to discredit conservatives as its go-to sources for evaluating conservative content.

Elon's instinct to adjust Grok when it produces unwanted answers mirrors the same impulse that created our current crisis: the belief that AI systems should reflect the creator's perspective rather than the full spectrum of human thought. Whether that creator leans left or right misses the central point—artificial intelligence should serve all Americans, not just those who control the algorithms.

This is where Elon's response, while appreciated, falls short of what the moment demands. Adjusting individual AI outputs is like treating symptoms while ignoring the disease. The real problem isn't what Grok said in one instance—it's that AI systems across the board have been trained on fundamentally incomplete datasets that systematically exclude conservative perspectives.

For decades, conservative media has been shadowbanned, demonetized, and algorithmically suppressed by the very companies now training AI systems. The result isn't just biased outputs—it's biased intelligence built on deliberately impoverished data. You cannot create unbiased AI from biased training sets, no matter how much you adjust the outputs after the fact.

Here's what makes this particularly urgent: while Big Tech companies spent years suppressing conservative content, they're now profiting from that same content to train their AI systems. Conservative publications like Human Events, The Post MIllennial, Epoch Times, Washington Examiner and hundreds of smaller outlets watched their reach artificially constrained while progressive competitors received algorithmic boosts. Now these same companies are mining decades of conservative content—content they actively tried to suppress—to build the AI systems that will shape humanity's future.

This represents a profound injustice that goes beyond political bias into basic market fairness. Conservative media created valuable content, built loyal audiences, and maintained credibility despite systematic discrimination. That content has clear market value for AI training, yet conservative publishers have received nothing while their suppressors profit.

The stakes here extend far beyond partisan politics. As Trump's newly appointed AI Czar David Sacks recently observed, AI represents a transformation "bigger than the iPhone... bigger than the internet... it will be one of the most important parts of Trump's legacy." When technology this transformative reflects only half the nation's perspectives, it creates dangerous blind spots in everything from policy analysis to threat assessment.

We cannot afford to build AI systems that mirror authoritarian approaches to information control. While China builds AI that serves state ideology by excluding inconvenient truths, America has the opportunity to build AI that reflects our values by including the full spectrum of viewpoints. An AI ecosystem that cannot accurately represent conservative thought—whether on immigration, economics, foreign policy, or social issues—fails to capture the authentic American conversation and weakens our competitive advantage.

Rather than adjusting Grok's outputs, Elon should address the root cause: ensuring conservative content is properly represented in AI training data. This means more than just tweaking algorithms—it means recognizing the economic value of conservative media and compensating publishers fairly for both historical archives and ongoing content production.

Elon has the resources and influence to lead this transformation. He could establish the gold standard for ethical AI training by licensing conservative archives, paying fair market rates for decades of conservative content with additional compensation reflecting years of artificial suppression. He could also form ongoing content partnerships with per-article payments for new conservative content, ensuring sustained representation in training data. Transparency standards should be put in place, including detailed breakdowns of training data sources that demonstrate ideological balance rather than merely claiming it. And finally, Elon could use his platform to call on other AI companies to follow suit, creating market pressure for fair treatment.

For Elon and other AI leaders, this isn't just about justice—it's about building better AI. In this new age of AI, trust is the highest yielding investment. First build trust, then build profits. Conservative media represents millions of engaged readers, decades of archived content, and ongoing production of perspectives found nowhere else. AI systems trained on this content will be more accurate, more balanced, and more trusted by more Americans. When half the country sees AI as biased against their worldview, those systems face an insurmountable credibility deficit that undermines their commercial value.

The conservative ecosystem has spent decades building credibility through accuracy and resilience. Conservative publications maintained audience loyalty despite systematic suppression, proving their content's value and durability. This isn't just about including different opinions—it's about incorporating proven, trusted sources that millions of Americans rely on for information. Any AI system that ignores this treasure trove of human thought is fundamentally incomplete and will struggle to gain the broad-based trust necessary for widespread adoption.

The companies that recognize this reality first and act on it will gain the competitive advantage that comes from building AI systems Americans actually trust. Trust, after all, is what transforms technology from a curiosity into an indispensable tool.

With David Sacks now serving as AI Czar and the Trump administration promising to make America the "clear global leader" in artificial intelligence, we have an unprecedented opportunity to correct these historical injustices while building superior technology. The framework I've proposed would restore market justice, improve AI accuracy, and ensure American AI systems reflect authentic American character.

This isn't about government mandates or partisan favoritism—it's about ensuring our most powerful technologies serve all Americans effectively. When AI systems demonstrate clear bias against half the country, they undermine their own credibility and utility. The market solution is simple: AI companies should compete to license conservative content because it makes their systems better.

Elon's recognition that Grok needed fixing shows he understands the problem exists. Now he needs to embrace the full solution. Adjusting outputs treats symptoms; changing training data cures the disease. Building AI systems on complete datasets that include conservative perspectives isn't about politics—it's about accuracy, completeness, and technological excellence.

The future of AI shouldn't be about fixing algorithms to match personal preferences. It should be about building systems so fundamentally complete that bias becomes impossible. That's the difference between adjustment and transformation—and it's what America deserves.

The author is the founder of Market Rithm and has spent three decades building technology infrastructure for conservative media and organizations. He can be reached at larryward.ai or on X @thatLarryWard.