Elon Musk challenges top League of Legends team to face AI Grok

Elon Musk listens as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump addresses a House Republicans Conference meeting at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill on November 13, 2024 in Washington, DC. Photo by AFP

In a viral post on X on Nov. 25, Musk wrote, "Let’s see if @Grok5 can beat the best human team @LeagueOfLegends in 2026."

He outlined strict rules for the match, stating that Grok 5 would only have access to the game through a camera pointed at the monitor, replicating human vision.

The AI’s reaction times and clicking speeds would also be limited to human levels, with no direct access to the game code or data feeds, according to Crunch Sports. Musk concluded the post by claiming that Grok 5 is designed to play "any game just by reading the instructions and experimenting."

League of Legends, developed by Riot Games, is a popular multiplayer online battle arena game where two teams of five players compete to destroy the opposing team’s base using unique champions.

Although Musk did not specify which team would take on Grok 5, South Korean team T1, who have won the World Championship three years in a row, was quickly tagged by fans. The team responded with confidence, posting "We are ready. Are you?" alongside a GIF of their legendary player, Faker, as reported by PCGamesN.

Faker, the South Korean professional League of Legends player who plays for team T1. Photo from X

AI has steadily expanded its presence in the esports scene. Various organizations have partnered with cloud infrastructure provider Theta Network to develop AI agents for social platforms, according to Esports Insider.

AI tools have also been used to assist casual players, with European esports organisation GIANTX launching iTero, an AI-powered training tool for League of Legends. Additionally, Razer unveiled Project AVA, an AI coach, at CES 2025 to help players enhance their performance.