xAI investigates, Sam Altman roasts Grok’s ‘White Genocide’ glitch
Yesterday, we reported on a bizarre glitch from xAI's chatbot Grok, which began adding commentary about "white genocide" in South Africa into random conversations about baseball and HBO Max.
And last night, xAI — the artificial intelligence arm of Elon Musk's X — finally admitted it had a problem. In a post on X, the company promised to conduct a full investigation into the glitch, blaming it on "an unauthorized modification" that directed Grok "to provide a specific response on a political topic."
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Coincidentally, Musk, the leader of xAI and a Grok power user, has a known interest in the subject. In fact, he spent yesterday tweeting about white genocide in South Africa, his home country. In right-wing circles, the "white genocide" theory is a common talking point, although a South African court recently called the issue "clearly imagined."
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After outlets like Mashable reported on the glitch, many of Grok's replies about the topic were deleted en masse. And in Mashable's tests, the chatbot stopped answering questions about the controversy in X posts discussing the glitch. (Normally, Grok will respond to users who tag @grok in X posts.)
As news of the glitch went viral on May 15, users on X began roasting xAI and Musk, and even OpenAI CEO Sam Altman piled on.
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By some estimates, xAI is valued at $80 billion.
Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.
Timothy Beck Werth is the Tech Editor at Mashable, where he leads coverage and assignments for the Tech and Shopping verticals. Tim has over 15 years of experience as a journalist and editor, and he has particular experience covering and testing consumer technology, smart home gadgets, and men’s grooming and style products. Previously, he was the Managing Editor and then Site Director of SPY.com, a men's product review and lifestyle website. As a writer for GQ, he covered everything from bull-riding competitions to the best Legos for adults, and he’s also contributed to publications such as The Daily Beast, Gear Patrol, and The Awl.
Tim studied print journalism at the University of Southern California. He currently splits his time between Brooklyn, NY and Charleston, SC. He's currently working on his second novel, a science-fiction book.
