Grok Bot 的隐藏“Elon-Only Settings”选择器列出了33个模型

Finding

SpaceXAI shipped Grok Bot 0.16.0 with a hidden settings card labeled “Elon-Only Settings” whose working model picker queried an authenticated, account-scoped catalog containing 33 models from xAI and competing providers.

How we verified

Methods: documents, testing, reverse engineering.

Grok Bot’s shipped renderer contains the “Elon-Only Settings” component, Model control and visibility guard. Source-mapped TypeScript documents the model-catalog request and account-scoped persistence path. Runtime testing returned 33 USER_AVAILABLE catalog entries and rendered them in the hidden picker. Screenshots, console output, original binaries, hashes and SpaceXAI’s conflicting public documentation were preserved.

RuntimeWire inspected Grok Bot’s Windows installer and app.asar, reconstructed original TypeScript from bundled source maps, and traced the settings component through its renderer guard, IPC handler and authenticated model-catalog request. The tested account was assigned to the live sand_model_selection treatment arm, which suppressed the card. RuntimeWire changed only the local renderer visibility condition, restarted the client and opened Settings → General. The unchanged shipped component requested the authenticated account’s catalog and displayed 33 entries. RuntimeWire separately recorded the experiment state, raw catalog response, current stored model and screenshots before restoring the original ASAR.

Caveat / limitations

The test proves that the shipped picker is functional and connected to a live account-scoped catalog. It does not prove that every listed model can serve Grok Bot turns on every account, or that Elon Musk personally uses the panel. The uploaded installer and analyzed ASAR both identify as 0.16.0, but their ASAR hashes do not match; they should be described as neighboring builds unless the installed copy is independently matched to its installer.

Classification rationale

RuntimeWire independently discovered and demonstrated an undisclosed shipped interface and its live backend connection. No earlier public report documenting the “Elon-Only Settings” label and 33-model catalog was identified.

Tested versions:

• Grok Bot 0.16.0
• Windows x64; Electron 42.1.0; Chromium 148.0.7778.97

Reproduction

Reproduction does not apply to this reporting (document-driven).

Preserve and hash the original app.asar. Open Grok Bot DevTools and call desktop.experiments.getSnapshot(). Confirm the tested account reports sandModelExperiment: {active: true, arm: "treatment"}. Call desktop.agent.getAvailableModels() and preserve the returned catalog. Change the renderer guard function not(){return cs(ct().experiments.snapshots)?.sandModelExperiment!=null} to return false, preserving byte length. Restart Grok Bot and open Settings → General. Confirm the shipped “Elon-Only Settings” card appears. Open the Model control and compare its entries with the authenticated catalog response. Restore the original ASAR.

Company response

RuntimeWire requested comment; the company had not responded by publication time.