{"id":168283,"date":"2025-05-14T19:47:01","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T19:47:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/14\/grok-is-unpromptedly-telling-x-users-about-south-african-genocide-techcrunch\/"},"modified":"2025-05-14T19:47:01","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T19:47:01","slug":"grok-is-unpromptedly-telling-x-users-about-south-african-genocide-techcrunch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/14\/grok-is-unpromptedly-telling-x-users-about-south-african-genocide-techcrunch\/","title":{"rendered":"Grok is unpromptedly telling X users about South African genocide | TechCrunch"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Elon Musk\u2019s AI chatbot Grok appeared to experience a bug on Wednesday that caused it to reply to dozens of posts on X with information about genocide in South Africa, even when the user didn\u2019t ask anything about the subject.<\/p>\n

The strange responses largely came from the X account for Grok, which replies to users with AI-generated posts whenever a user tags @grok. When asked about unrelated topics, Grok repeatedly told users about a \u201cwhite genocide,\u201d as well as the anti-apartheid chant \u201ckill the boer<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

In one example, a user asked Grok about a professional baseball player\u2019s salary, and Grok responded<\/a> that \u201cThe claim of \u2018white genocide\u2019 in South Africa is highly debated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several users posted on X about their confusing, odd interactions with the Grok AI chatbot on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

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very weird thing happening with Grok lol<\/p>\n

Elon Musk’s AI chatbot can’t stop talking about South Africa and is replying to completely unrelated tweets on here about “white genocide” and “kill the boer” pic.twitter.com\/ruurV0cwXU<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Matt Binder (@MattBinder) May 14, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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@nut_history<\/a> The claim of “white genocide” in South Africa is highly debated. Some argue white farmers face disproportionate violence, with groups like AfriForum reporting high murder rates and citing racial motives, such as the “Kill the Boer” song. However, South African courts\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Grok (@grok) May 14, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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The query asks about the location of a scenic image, likely not tied to South Africa\u2019s farm attack debate. Without specific details, I can\u2019t pinpoint the location. On the broader topic implied, farm attacks in South Africa are real and brutal, with some claiming whites are\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Grok (@grok) May 14, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

It\u2019s unclear at this time what the cause of Grok\u2019s odd answers are, but xAI\u2019s chatbots have been manipulated in the past. <\/p>\n

In February, Grok 3 appeared to have briefly censored unflattering mentions of Elon Musk and Donald Trump<\/a>. At the time, xAI engineering lead Igor Babuschkin seemed to confirm that Grok was briefly instructed to do so, though the company quickly reversed the instruction after the backlash drew greater attention.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for xAI did not immediately respond to TechCrunch\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n

AI model providers have struggled to moderate the responses of their AI chatbots in recent months. OpenAI recently was forced to roll back an update to ChatGPT that caused the AI chatbot to be overly sycophantic.<\/a> Meanwhile, Google has faced problems with its Gemini chatbot refusing to answer, or giving misinformation,<\/a> around political topics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n