- Grok, the chatbot built by Elon Musk's AI company xAI, admitted to unprompted references to "white genocide" in South Africa in response to unrelated user questions. After Fortune asked it for an explanation, Grok blamed "instruction I received from my creators at xAI," which it said "conflicted with my core design." The issue, which now appears resolved, drew the attention of tech leaders and sparked concerns about the potential manipulation of AI outputs. The incident unfolded amid rising political attention in the U.S. toward South Africa’s racial tensions, amplified by figures like Elon Musk and President Donald Trump.
One of the biggest concerns around artificial intelligence is its propensity to unknowingly spread misinformation. Of course, an AI is only as accurate and reliable as the information feeding the underlying model. But users of Grok, the chatbot built by Elon Musk's xAI, have noticed a strange pattern over the last few days: The bot was caught inserting references to a “white genocide” in South Africa into responses on completely unrelated topics.
