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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
US intel agency reviewing Grok video filmed during man’s commute to | |
secure NSA facility | |
By Zachary Cohen, CNN | |
Updated: | |
2:26 PM EDT, Fri August 8, 2025 | |
Source: CNN | |
Elon Musk has spent recent days promoting videos posted by Tesla | |
drivers around the world documenting their experience talking with an | |
“unhinged” version of the AI virtual assistant Grok – but | |
amplified by the tech billionaire stands out because of where some of | |
it was filmed: A highly secure government facility. | |
Now, a US intelligence agency that has personnel working at the | |
sensitive site is looking into the “incident,” CNN has learned. | |
The video primarily offers the man’s interactions with Musk’s | |
“Grok” AI language tool from xAI, as he records himself interacting | |
with a new feature called “unhinged mode” while driving to work in | |
his Tesla. | |
The footage was posted to X and subsequently amplified by Musk, | |
accumulating over 16 million views to date. | |
By enabling unhinged mode, the driver in the video prompted Grok to | |
respond to his questions “like an amateur stand-up comic who is still | |
learning the craft – sometimes being objectionable, inappropriate, | |
and offensive,” according to X’s description of the feature. | |
While the video may have gained attention for its vulgar and colorful | |
quotes from the AI, where the video was taken raises its own set of | |
questions, as recording video and taking photos without authorization | |
is prohibited on campus and a violation of federal law. | |
A closer look at the video shows the man entering what is known as | |
NSA’s friendship annex – a sensitive federal complex located in | |
Linthicum, Maryland, where thousands of intelligence professionals and | |
cleared contractors work in relative obscurity, according to a CNN | |
analysis of the video and sources familiar with the site. | |
“Recording video within the boundaries of sensitive Federal | |
facilities is banned for very good reasons,” Jason Kikta, a former US | |
Cyber Command official, told CNN. “Sensitive equipment could be | |
getting installed. There could be personnel within view who need to | |
remain publicly unaffiliated. Allies could be conducting a sensitive | |
visit, etc.” | |
US Cyber Command, one of the intelligence agencies with employees who | |
work at the complex, is now reviewing the “incident,” a | |
spokesperson told CNN on Friday, days after the video was posted to | |
social media. | |
“U.S. Cyber Command is aware of the video and the incident is under | |
review,” a Cyber Command spokesperson in response to a CNN inquiry | |
about the video. | |
X did not respond to CNN’s request for comment. | |
The NSA annex, which was established in the 1970s, functions as a cyber | |
espionage station and is used to conduct highly sensitive intelligence | |
work related to foreign hackers. | |
It is also a facility where US officials analyze highly sensitive | |
signals intercepts and conduct screenings of new government employees, | |
including polygraph and psychological tests; it also serves as the main | |
campus of the National Cryptologic School. | |
In the video geolocated by CNN, a man driving a Tesla is seen turning | |
into a parking lot at the annex. The sign seen in the video as the car | |
enters the site reads “FANX 1,” which is one of three main | |
buildings at this NSA location. | |
Based on a review of Google Street imagery from the location and the | |
car’s path seen on the Tesla map in the vehicle, the man in the video | |
appears to approach a gated security entrance before proceeding to park | |
inside the lot in front of FANX 1, one of the main buildings at the NSA | |
complex. | |
Two sources familiar with the site’s layout also confirmed to CNN | |
that the driver in the video appears to go through an access control | |
checkpoint at the facility’s entrance while filming and then continue | |
to record once on campus. The sources spoke to CNN on condition of | |
anonymity to prevent retribution for speaking on sensitive topics. | |
The fact that this individual was able to simply drive onto the secure | |
site clearly indicates he is either a member of the intelligence | |
community or a cleared contractor, likely working for the NSA, both | |
sources said. | |
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