Elon Musk has revealed details about Grokipedia, a new AI project that wants to keep people’s stories alive long after they die and maybe even after Earth itself. The idea that Musk’s AI company, xAI, is working on was shared on January 16, 2026.In response to online talks about the project, Musk wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “immortality can be yours.” People paid a lot of attention to the statement right away, but the point of it is less about living forever and more about being remembered.People can share their life stories on Grokipedia, which is a huge online library. These stories would go into a database that would keep getting bigger. There may come a day when the database is sent into space, maybe to the Moon, Mars, or even farther into the solar system. The goal is to make sure that stories about people will still be told, even if a lot of things change on Earth in the far future.
A real-world Encyclopedia Galactica
The idea is clearly based on Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series, which introduced the fictional Encyclopedia Galactica, a record meant to keep human knowledge safe through the rise and fall of civilisations. Musk’s version tries to do something similar, but it focuses on the person.
Grokipedia would have more than just facts about science and history. It would also have memories, personal stories, and stories about daily life. People who agree with this idea say that this method could give a better picture of people than just using old records.Grokipedia is different from medical or biological ideas of immortality because it focuses more on memory and legacy. The project thinks that stories should be kept for a long time. It uses AI to sort them and space technology to keep them safe when they’re not on Earth.
How Grokipedia would work
As part of the proposed system, people would send Grokipedia their own stories. AI tools would then organise, sort, and store this data so that it is easy to find later. This would allow the archive to get bigger over time.There is still no clear plan for how the data will be checked, stored, and sent into space. Musk and xAI haven’t said anything about timelines or technical details yet. The long-term goal, though, is to move this archive outside of Earth’s orbit, where it could stay safe for hundreds of years or more.
Opportunities and challenges
Experts say that Grokipedia and other projects like it raise difficult moral and practical issues. One big problem is making sure things are right. It would be hard to check a lot of personal stories, especially if they don’t match or have private information.People are also worried about their privacy. It will be just as important to choose which stories to include, how to protect personal data, and who can access the archive as it will be to choose the technology itself.There are risks to keeping data in space, like radiation, very high and low temperatures, and having to keep it there for a long time. xAI is still working on these issues and hasn’t completely fixed them yet.
Potential impact on historical preservation
Grokipedia has gotten people in both the tech and space communities excited, even though there are still questions that need to be answered. People who support it say that it gives us a new way to think about preserving history that values both personal experience and official records.If everything goes as planned, the project could help people in the future understand how people lived, thought, and felt during this time in history.Grokipedia is still just an idea and not a finished product. There isn’t an official launch date for Grokipedia yet, but the idea is part of a growing trend: using AI not just to make things easier or analyse data, but also to leave lasting legacies for people. As xAI works on the project, Grokipedia might change how we think about memory, living forever, and telling stories in a cosmic way.
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