AI blamed an 'unauthorized modification' for a bug in its AI-powered Grok chatbot that caused Grok to repeatedly refer to "white genocide in South Africa" when invoked in certain contexts on X.

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

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."