Key topics:Musk's chatbot Grok echoed a South Africa "white genocide" theoryGrok veered off-topic in replies, raising concerns about AI behaviorGrok has been called out before for questionable responses.Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..By Seth Fiegerman.For a brief period on Wednesday, all Elon Musk’s chatbot wanted to do was discuss a conspiracy theory about “white genocide” in South Africa.Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot from Musk’s xAI, responded to a series of social media posts about enterprise software, baseball salaries and selfies by explaining why claims of “white genocide” in the country are “highly debated.” “Switching enterprise software is hard, like swapping your favorite LEGO castle for wooden blocks,” Grok replied to one user on the X social media platform, before abruptly shifting topics a few sentences later. “I’m unsure about the South Africa claims, as evidence is conflicting. Courts and analysts deny ‘white genocide,’ but some groups insist it’s real.” .Read more:.Elon Musk’s government overhaul goes up in smoke - Bloomberg Editorial Board .While it’s unclear what caused the apparent glitch, subtle tweaks under the hood of an AI system can cause it to behave in unpredictable and controversial ways. Grok has been called out before for questionable responses. Earlier this year, social media users noticed the chatbot specifically tried to avoid mentioning Musk or President Donald Trump when asked about the biggest spreaders of misinformation. The issue was later fixed. Musk, who grew up in South Africa, has spent years trafficking the false conspiracy that there’s a “white genocide” in the country. More recently, the US granted refugee status to White South Africans, as Trump claimed, without evidence, that this group has been the victim of a “genocide.” Representatives for X did not immediately respond to a request for comment..© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.
