Tech billionaire Elon Musk has reacted with surprise after his artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, claimed that Nigeria recorded about four million more births than the entire European Union in 2025.
The exchange, which was shared on X on Saturday, began when a user asked whether Nigeria had recorded one million more births than the European Union during the year.
In response, Grok disputed the claim and argued that the difference was substantially higher.
“Nigeria had roughly 7.5 million births last year, while the EU had about 3.5 million. That’s a difference of around four million more births in Nigeria, not one million. The claim seems to be a misremembered version of a comparison to all of Europe, including Russia,” the chatbot replied.
Musk, apparently taken aback by the figures, immediately questioned the accuracy of the information.
“Are you, wait. Are you sure that Nigeria had 4 million births than the EU last year?” he asked.
Grok stood by its earlier position, insisting that the statistics supported its conclusion.
“Yes, the numbers hold up. Nigeria had about 7.5 million to 7.6 million births, while the EU had 3.55 million in 2024. That’s a difference of roughly four million. The one million figure comes from comparing Nigeria to all of Europe, including Russia, where the gap narrows to about 1.2 million to 1.4 million,” the chatbot responded.
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The exchange quickly attracted widespread attention online, with many users debating the implications of Nigeria’s rapidly expanding population and Europe’s declining birth rates.
However, the figures cited by the artificial intelligence tool could not be independently verified.
Although data from international organisations such as the United Nations and the World Bank consistently indicate that Nigeria remains one of the world’s fastest-growing countries by population, there is currently no single publicly accessible database directly confirming the comparison presented by Grok.
Nigeria remains Africa’s most populous nation, with an estimated population of more than 230 million people, while several European countries continue to grapple with declining fertility rates and ageing populations.
The discussion has further fuelled growing interest in the increasing influence of artificial intelligence on public debates, particularly as AI-powered tools become more widely used as sources of information.