'Pure garbage': Elon Musk’s AI-generated 'The Odyssey' clip ridiculed online

The AI slop clip has been blasted online, with many calling it out as "garbage" and an "utter waste of time and money like most of Musk Inc." This summer, Elon Musk promised that his AI tool Grok Imagine would create a feature-length version of Homer’s ancient Greek poem "The Odyssey", after spending months railing against Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey with racist and transphobic outbursts and "go woke, go broke" rants. “Before this year ends, Grok Imagine will make a full-length movie of The Odyssey that is historically accurate and true to the art of Homer,” he posted. Now, the trolling tech mogul has followed through. Partially. Grok has shared a seven-minute, AI-generated episode of "The Odyssey” series on X, stated to be a “creative collaboration” with Wonder Studios and director Dev Walker, both of whom specialise in AI filmmaking. And it's exactly what you'd expect. Strange movements. Narratively all over the place. Airbrushed. White. Utterly soulless. The AI slop clip has been blasted online, with some describing it as "pure garbage" and others commenting that the clip "shows you how little AI understands art or humans". "Musk criticized Nolan, one of the best directors of our generation, for not being historically accurate in his ‘Odyssey’, and promises a better one created entirely by AI. He then proceeds to produce a 7 min trailer with dozens of historical inaccuracies," wrote one user. Another wrote: "If this is how you think the Odyssey should be. It's no wonder you keep thinking Russia started the Ukraine war. You should send the Russians this 'movie' it would probably finish them off. Utter waste of time and money like most of Musk Inc." "As an artistic product it sucks as much as you would expect, too many details going wrong, dreadful pacing and dialogue - it's basically a 7 minute C level trailer," wrote another, while one user made a suggestion: ""Elon Musk knows shit about movies and I’d suggest that he should just stick to what he’s good at, but that seems to be white nationalism." There are also several glaring elements in Grok's AI Odyssey which are at odds with Musk's claims that its version would be "historically accurate" - chiefly that it's not in the Greek language and shows the Greeks landing at Troy - something which happens before Homer's Odyssey begins. Meanwhile, Nolan's The Odyssey, which opened in cinemas worldwide on 17 July, has made nearly $1.8bn at the box office and has received overwhelmingly positive reviews. Euronews Culture included the film in our Best Movies of 2026... So Far rundown, writing: "While Nolan’s take on Homer's foundational epic is without a doubt his most ambitious undertaking, and there's so much to admire about this monumental technical achievement, it’s an uneven effort. The filmmaker's proclivity for non-linear plot structures proves to be a thorn in his side, as The Odyssey is often crippled by clumsy editing choices and pacing issues in its first half. Additionally, more time could have been spent on Odysseus’ dangerous adventures to make thrills truly register." We added: "Once the film does coalesce into something more focused in the final act, you'll have felt awe but not much in the way of character-driven emotion. Or fun, which Homer’s epic had plenty of. Even if The Odyssey isn't the flat-out masterpiece many caught up in the hype are hailing, there's no denying that only Nolan could have accomplished such bold cinematic event."