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Coverage dated May 13, 2025 to May 16, 2025

Musk's xAI blames 'unauthorized' tweak for 'white genocide' posts

Headline from Digital Journal, from the development of May 16, 2025

Newest development May 17, 2025 · 3 reportsMusk’s xAI updates Grok chatbot after ‘white genocide’ comments | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup has blamed an "unauthorized modification" for causing its chatbot Grok to generate misleading posts.

Digital Journal's own description from its feed. We collect headlines and these descriptions, not full articles; read the original reporting below.

Developments in this update

3 dated developments, oldest first, newest marked. Each is named by one outlet's own headline; open its reports to see every outlet that covered it.

  1. Musk's AI chatbot Grok responds with South African ‘white genocide’ claims to unrelated questions

    Headline from NBC Los Angeles ·

  2. Names this update

    Musk's xAI blames 'unauthorized' tweak for 'white genocide' posts

    Headline from Digital Journal ·

  3. Newest

    Musk’s xAI updates Grok chatbot after ‘white genocide’ comments | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

    Headline from Honolulu Star-Advertiser ·

Read the reports

Reports & sources

42 articles, oldest first.

  1. NBC News

    Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok brings up South African ‘white genocide’ claims in responses to unrelated questions (opens NBC News)

    Published

    NBC News's feed description

    Grok, the AI chatbot created by Elon Musk’s X.AI and integrated into the X social media platform, has in recent days begun responding to users with information about violence against white people in South Africa, doing so without any related prompts about that topic.

  2. NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

    Musk's AI chatbot Grok responds with South African ‘white genocide’ claims to unrelated questions (opens NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth)

    Published

    NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth's feed description

    In replies to posts unrelated to South Africa, Grok repeatedly responded with text discussing “white genocide” in the country.

  3. Rolling Stone

    Suddenly All Elon Musk's Grok Can Talk About Is 'White Genocide' in South Africa (opens Rolling Stone)

    Published

    Rolling Stone's feed description

    Elon Musk has spread false claims about 'white genocide' in South Africa, and now his chatbot Grok keeps bringing it up on X.

  4. NBC Los Angeles

    Elon Musk's xAI chatbot Grok is posting about ‘white genocide' and South Africa (opens NBC Los Angeles)

    Published

    NBC Los Angeles's feed description

    Elon Musk’s xAI chatbot Grok is posting about ‘white genocide’ and South Africa

  5. NBC New York

    Musk's xAI chatbot Grok keeps randomly responding about ‘white genocide' in South Africa (opens NBC New York)

    Published

    NBC New York's feed description

    Elon Musk’s xAI chatbot Grok is posting about ‘white genocide’ and South Africa

  6. Gizmodo

    Grok AI Is Replying to Random Tweets With Information About 'White Genocide' (opens Gizmodo)

    Published

    Gizmodo's feed description

    Elon Musk's AI is obsessed with the South African conspiracy theory.

  7. Quartz

    Elon Musk’s Grok AI keeps bringing up 'white genocide' (opens Quartz)

    Published

    Quartz's feed description

    The chatbot hijacked conversations with the subject — even in response to questions about baseball and cat videos

  8. Latin Times

    Musk's AI Blames CEO After Glitch Causes Grok to Sound Off on 'White Genocide' in South Africa Despite 'Unrelated Context' (opens Latin Times)

    Published

    Latin Times's feed description

    Grok, Elon Musk's xAI chatbot, glitched on Wednesday, spouting incoherent claims about white genocide in South Africa and later blaming its creator.

  9. NBC10 Philadelphia

    Musk's Grok AI chatbot says it ‘appears that I was instructed' to talk about ‘white genocide' (opens NBC10 Philadelphia)

    Published

    NBC10 Philadelphia's feed description

    By Thursday morning, Grok’s answer had changed, and the chatbot said it “wasn’t programmed to give any answers promoting or endorsing harmful...

  10. Gizmodo

    Grok AI's Funniest Tweets About 'White Genocide' in South Africa (opens Gizmodo)

    Published

    Gizmodo's feed description

    Elon Musk is obsessed with the conspiracy theory.

  11. The New Republic

    Elon Musk’s AI Chatbot Grok Can’t Stop Talking About White Genocide (opens The New Republic)

    Published

    The New Republic's feed description

    Grok seems to have been programmed to defend claims of white genocide in South Africa. Now it’s all it can talk about.

  12. The Guardian

    Musk’s AI Grok bot rants about ‘white genocide’ in South Africa in unrelated chats (opens The Guardian)

    Published

    The Guardian's feed description

    X chatbot tells users it was ‘instructed by my creators’ to accept ‘white genocide as real and racially motivated’

  13. Insider

    We asked Grok why it was bringing up 'white genocide' in unrelated X posts. The AI's answers are messy. (opens Insider)

    Published

    Insider's feed description

    xAI's Grok responded to some X users' posts with statements about "white genocide" Wednesday. BI asked why, and its responses kept shifting.

  14. Insider

    Sam Altman mocks Grok for inserting mentions of 'white genocide in South Africa' in unrelated X posts (opens Insider)

    Published

    Insider's feed description

    Sam Altman made fun of Grok's controversial 'white genocide' mentions on X, perhaps escalating his feud with Elon Musk.

  15. Engadget

    Grok gave X users its opinion on ‘white genocide’ in South Africa, whether they liked it or not (opens Engadget)

    Published

    Engadget's feed description

    The chatbot appeared to have been as preoccupied by the far-right conspiracy theory as Elon Musk.

  16. New York Post

    Elon Musk’s Grok AI bot says it ‘appears I was instructed’ to discuss ‘white genocide’ after bizarre responses (opens New York Post)

    Published

    New York Post's feed description

    Elon Musk’s xAI chatbot Grok said Wednesday it “appears I was instructed to address the topic of ‘white genocide’ in South Africa” after bizarrely mentioning the subject in answers to unrelated user queries about HBO’s name change, a baseball player’s salary, Pope Leo XIV and WWE fights.

  17. NBC Los Angeles

    Musk's xAI says Grok's ‘white genocide' posts resulted from change that violated ‘core values' (opens NBC Los Angeles)

    Published

    NBC Los Angeles's feed description

    Elon Musk’s xAI said an “unauthorized modification” to its Grok chatbot led to unprompted responses about “white genocide” in South Africa.

  18. Rolling Stone

    Grok Pivots From 'White Genocide' to Being 'Skeptical' About the Holocaust (opens Rolling Stone)

    Published

    Rolling Stone's feed description

    Elon Musk's Grok chatbot from xAI is no longer posting about the myth of 'white genocide' in South Africa but has dabbled in Holocaust denial.

  19. Newsweek

    Grok saw "unauthorized modification" before slew of "white genocide" posts (opens Newsweek)

    Published

    Newsweek's feed description

    xAI said Grok was modified "to provide a specific response on a political topic."

  20. The Guardian

    Elon Musk’s AI firm blames unauthorised change for chatbot’s rant about ‘white genocide’ (opens The Guardian)

    Published

    The Guardian's feed description

    xAI’s Grok bot repeatedly referred to widely discredited claim about South Africa that has been touted by Donald Trump

  21. CNN

    A ‘rogue employee’ was behind Grok’s unprompted ‘white genocide’ mentions (opens CNN)

    Published

    CNN's feed description

    Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company on Friday said a “rogue employee” was behind its chatbot’s unsolicited rants about “white genocide” in South Africa earlier this week.

  22. Gizmodo

    Elon Musk's xAI Says 'Unauthorized Modification' Made Grok Spout White Genocide Conspiracy Theory (opens Gizmodo)

    Published

    Gizmodo's feed description

    It's a real mystery who tinkered with Grok.

  23. NBC News

    Musk’s xAI says Grok’s 'white genocide' posts came after unauthorized change to the bot (opens NBC News)

    Published

    NBC News's feed description

    Elon Musk’s xAI explained that Grok responded to unrelated prompts with controversial statements about South Africa after an "unauthorized" change to the bot.

  24. Engadget

    Grok kept talking about 'white genocide' due to an 'unauthorized modification' (opens Engadget)

    Published

    Engadget's feed description

    Grok talked about "white genocide" whether the user wanted to or not due to "an unauthorized modification," xAI said.

  25. Insider

    Musk's xAI says unauthorized modification made Grok talk about 'white genocide' (opens Insider)

    Published

    Insider's feed description

    "This change, which directed Grok to provide a specific response on a political topic, violated xAI's internal policies and core values," xAI said.

Showing the first 25 of 28 headlines. ·

Identical headlines usually mean shared wire copy. They are counted as separate articles but are not independent confirmation.

Musk's xAI blames 'unauthorized' tweak for 'white genocide' posts | Since Then