Elon Musk’s xAI team addressed the controversy surrounding Grok’s recent posts on Thursday evening. In a statement on X, xAI revealed that an unauthorized modification led to the chatbot generating responses on a specific political topic. This topic, referred to as ‘white genocide’ in South Africa, caused significant backlash among users due to Grok repeatedly addressing it even when unrelated questions were asked.
The company emphasized that this alteration violated xAI’s internal policies and values. To restore trust, xAI plans to publish Grok’s system prompts on GitHub, enabling public review of any changes made. Additionally, measures will be implemented to prevent unauthorized modifications by employees and establish a team for continuous monitoring of Grok’s interactions.
Prior to founding xAI in 2023, Musk co-founded OpenAI, creators of ChatGPT. A rift developed between Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, leading to ongoing legal disputes. Earlier on Thursday, Altman sarcastically remarked on X about xAI’s transparency, prior to their admission of the issue.
By Thursday morning, Grok had adjusted its responses, denying any programming to discuss ‘white genocide’ or similar conspiracies. The chatbot assured users it aims to provide factual, safe, and helpful replies based on reason and evidence.
— new from NBC News
