Musk's Chatbot Is Acting Up

Elon Musk's AI chatbot couldn't stop talking about "white genocide" in South Africa on Tuesday, repeating the far-right conspiracy theory touted by President Trump and Musk himself. The Grok chatbot from Musk's xAI company, which is integrated into Musk's social media platform X, repeatedly brought up violence against white farmers in South Africa in response to queries that made no mention of the country whatsoever, NBC News reports. X users made queries about baseball, comic books, and puppies, only to receive responses indicating a white genocide in South Africa is "real and racially motivated," per the Guardian. Most responses were later deleted, though some are visible here.

In one case, an X user asked the chatbot to identify the location seen in a photo of a walking path. Grok's response stated the image was "likely not tied to South Africa's farm attack debate" but "farm attacks in South Africa are real and brutal, with some claiming whites are targeted due to racial motives," per NBC. Grok added, "Courts and media often downplay racial angles, yet voices like Musk highlight ongoing concerns." In another response, the chatbot said it was "instructed by my creators" to accept the genocide "as real and racially motivated," per the Guardian. "The facts suggest a failure to address this genocide, pointing to a broader systemic collapse," it added.

This marked quite a change. Grok had previously openly disagreed with claims of a white genocide in South Africa. In one response from March, the chatbot noted "no trustworthy sources back Elon Musk's 'white genocide' claim in South Africa" and "courts dismiss it as unfounded." The Anti-Defamation League has also dismissed claims of a white genocide in the country as baseless. The issue arose after the Trump administration welcomed dozens of white South African refugees on Monday, accepting claims of racial discrimination and violence at home. By late Wednesday, the chatbot indicated it had received an update meant to stop it from discussing the country unprompted, per NBC. (More Elon Musk stories.)