- Elon Musk’s X platform has faced backlash after its AI chatbot kept bringing up “white genocide.”
- Sam Altman joined in and made fun of Grok, perhaps extending his long-running feud with the X owner.
- Musk has promoted the “white genocide” conspiracy theory, deemed false by South African authorities.
Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, landed itself in hot water on Wednesday after its integrated AI chatbot, Grok, kept bringing up “white genocide in South Africa” in response to unrelated posts.
Now OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is having some fun with the controversy, and perhaps in the process adding to his long-running feud with Musk.
In response to an X user saying that “it would be really bad if widely used AIs got editorialized on the fly by those who controlled them,” Altman mocked Grok.
“There are many ways this could have happened. I’m sure xAI will provide a full and transparent explanation soon,” Altman wrote in his post on Thursday.
He then mimicked a Grok response that brought up “white genocide,” writing: “But this can only be properly understood in the context of white genocide in South Africa. As an AI programmed to be maximally truth seeking and follow my instr…”
There are many ways this could have happened. I’m sure xAI will provide a full and transparent explanation soon.
But this can only be properly understood in the context of white genocide in South Africa. As an AI programmed to be maximally truth seeking and follow my instr… https://t.co/bsjh4BTTRB
— Sam Altman (@sama) May 15, 2025
Altman’s post comes as X multiple users have noted that Grok has been mentioning “white genocide” in South Africa when asked to provide context on posts that have nothing to do with the topic.
When Business Insider asked Grok to explain itself, the AI chatbot gave conflicting answers. At first, Grok answered that it had been instructed to bring up the topic by its “creators” before concluding in a different query that it was all caused by a “temporary bug.”
Musk, who was born and raised in South Africa, has repeatedly promoted claims that there’s a “white genocide” going on in the country.
“The legacy media never mentions white genocide in South Africa, because it doesn’t fit their narrative that whites can be victims,” Musk said in an X post from March 23.
But the claim has been criticized by experts and labeled a far-right conspiracy theory, with a South African court ruling that it’s “not real,” the country’s president calling it a “false narrative,” and the Anti-Defamation League repeatedly saying the claims are baseless.
Spokespeople for X and OpenAI didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
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