Althouse: "On May 14, the chatbot began responding to all kinds of unrelated queries by holding forth on the topic of 'white genocide' in South Africa, to users’ bafflement."

May 24, 2025

"On May 14, the chatbot began responding to all kinds of unrelated queries by holding forth on the topic of 'white genocide' in South Africa, to users’ bafflement."

"It’s a theory that holds that the country’s formerly ascendant White minority is being targeted for elimination by its Black majority — a claim the South African-born Musk has helped to popularize via his influential X account. The theory has been rejected as false by courts, government ministers and fact-checkers. Grok’s sudden obsession with it coincided with a push by the Trump administration to justify its controversial move to welcome White South African refugees at a time when the United States is turning away refugees of color from countries around the world.

I'm reading "How Elon Musk’s ‘truth-seeking’ chatbot lost its way/Grok has proved popular with X users. But a string of bizarre blunders threatened to turn it into a punchline" (WaPo)(free-access link).

70 comments:

Ann Althouse said...: I tried to get Grok to respond to this article, but repeated tries got me only to "Something went wrong, please refresh to reconnect or try again."; 5/24/25, 7:54 AM
Big Mike said...: The theory has been rejected as false by courts, government ministers and fact-checkers.

The Post might be right, I’m not going to bother to check. But there’s someplace where it’s been found to be true — a place called “Reality,” where Post writers (and readers) seldom dare to venture.; 5/24/25, 7:58 AM
Ambrose said...: I had same reaction as previous commenter Big Mike to the sentence: “The theory has been rejected as false …”. That attempt to end all discussion is a red flag. It’s like the media’s. “So and so falsely claimed ..” or “… asserted without evidence.”; 5/24/25, 8:03 AM
Spiros said...: I think this is a problem of tense. The Whites in South Africa have not been "genocided." That's something for future historians to decide. But maybe the genocide is happening as we speak? The intent is obviously there, the White farmers are under siege and White people have no future in South Africa.

Also the liberals need to shut up. Any civilian casualties in any war they disagree with is genocide. They're guilty of watering down the term so much so that even Governor DeSantis was accused of genocide because of his don't say gay bill.; 5/24/25, 8:06 AM
Freder Frederson said...: But there’s someplace where it’s been found to be true — a place called “Reality,”

He says with absolutely no proof or link to back up his version of "Reality". Apparently, if Elon Musk says it, it must be true.; 5/24/25, 8:06 AM
Dave Begley said...: It is so, so depressing to read the comments to WaPo articles.; 5/24/25, 8:08 AM
cf said...: My understanding was that Grok was taken over for a while by a malevolent actor, responding to all kinds of queries with racialized responses. Terrible Terrible. I only wish the Best for X and Elon. May All Thrive Now.; 5/24/25, 8:09 AM
Freder Frederson said...: The intent is obviously there, the White farmers are under siege and White people have no future in South Africa.

Except for the unfortunate fact (Big Mike might call it "Reality") that whites (at about 7% of the population) still own over 70% of the farmland 30 years plus after the end of apartheid.; 5/24/25, 8:13 AM
Greg Hlatky said...: Genocide isn't white farmers being murdered. Genocide is using the wrong pronouns.; 5/24/25, 8:15 AM
rhhardin said...: All I know is it doesn't look good in Vehicle 19 (2013) man tries to reach an apparently high-maintenance girlfriend working at the US embassy, many side adventures with bad guys in government.; 5/24/25, 8:16 AM
gilbar said...: The theory has been rejected as false by courts, government ministers and fact-checkers.

i WONDER..
Whose courts?
Whose government ministers?
Whose fact-checkers?

Serious Question:
IF we'd asked Nazi courts, Nazi government ministers, or Nazi fact-checkers..
WHAT would THEY have said, about the accusation that Nazis tried to genocide their Jews?

for that matter, what if we ask some of the "experts" HERE?; 5/24/25, 8:18 AM
Dr Weevil said...: So Freder knows enough about South Africa to quote percentages of farm ownership, but has somehow missed the videos of South African politicians leading chants of "Kill the Boer! Kill the white farmer!" and denying that they are confiscating any farms, while boasting that they are taking them without compensation, which is exactly what 'confiscation' means. And these politicians are leaders of major parties represented in parliament, not South African equivalents of the Libertarians or the Rent-Is-Too-Damned-High Party.; 5/24/25, 8:20 AM
Shouting Thomas said...: Grok was far worse when I consulted it on South Africa than this post indicates. It presented NPR and WaPo as the “sources” that debunked the claims of white genocide. Then it engages in some of the most tortuous rhetoric I’ve ever encountered to insist that “Kill the Boers” doesn’t really mean “Kill the Boers.”; 5/24/25, 8:21 AM
rhhardin said...: Savages tend to be ungrateful, is the usual rule. Some places work out, Dominican Republic for example. Nelson Mandela had the right idea but it didn't stick.; 5/24/25, 8:22 AM
rhhardin said...: tortuous rhetoric

Slow and steady wins the race.; 5/24/25, 8:23 AM
Aggie said...: "It is so, so depressing to read the comments to WaPo articles...."

Just remember, most of them are 'bots'.

@Freder sez: "whites (at about 7% of the population) still own over 70% of the farmland 30 years plus after the end of apartheid...."

Please, complete your thought ! Would you like to characterize the intentions at play? Did they bring it on themselves, or is it simple social justice ?

Remember, we're all old enough to remember when drag queens and trannies were facing a 'genocide' in Florida because their access to kids was being shut down.; 5/24/25, 8:25 AM
Joe Bar said...: White farmer genocide is not happening.
Ok White farmer genocide is happening but it's not bad.
Ok White farmer genocide might be bad but it won't affect you. Ok White farmer genocide is happening but it's actually good for you.; 5/24/25, 8:28 AM
Joe Bar said...: X doesn't seem to be working well this morning. I assume that affect Grok, as well.; 5/24/25, 8:30 AM
Jaq said...: I don't really know the ground truth here, so this comment is not about that, my only comment is that "found by courts" means less than nothing.; 5/24/25, 8:30 AM
Temujin said...: X appears to be offline currently.

I have been reading about the 'allowance' of murder of White farmers in South Africa for years now. This isn't an 'X' created myth. The confiscation of farm land, the murder, sometimes raping of the farm owners has been going on for years.

Why is it that everyone claims to understand that 2 wrongs don't make a right, unless the 2nd wrong is perpetrated on a White person?

One need only take the SA political leader Julis Malema at his word. Nice rally. Calling for the death of Whites.

But as in all things leftist- our media, with their hands over their ears, blinders over their eyes, shouting "Lalalalala" as loud as they can, see and hear nothing.; 5/24/25, 8:35 AM
mccullough said...: So it’s not Wakanda. Same thing happened in Rhodesia. Africa is a mess from top to bottom. Nothing the US can do about it except stop giving any of them our money; 5/24/25, 8:45 AM
john mosby said...: These people gave up their nukes. We owe them our protection.

Somehow this is a great argument applied to Ukrainians, a so-so argument applied to Libyans, and not even mentioned for white South Africans.

JSM; 5/24/25, 8:47 AM
Mr. D said...: Jaq said...
I don't really know the ground truth here, so this comment is not about that, my only comment is that "found by courts" means less than nothing.

This.; 5/24/25, 8:49 AM
tommyesq said...: The theory has been rejected as false by courts, government ministers and fact-checkers.

After a week in which we learned that the government lied to us about the state of Biden's mental deterioration and who was actually running the country, and learned that the media almost certainly lied to cover that up (and best-case scenario were just too stupid and blind to notice it), we are suddenly expected to believe that there is no white genocide because the SA government took a pause in their "kill all the whiteys" chanting to deny that genocide was taking place and some medio dolt reprinted the denial without doing any kind of investigation? Nobody is that gullible, right?

Of course, Freder comes along and proves how idiotic we have become.; 5/24/25, 8:51 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: So here we go again. We're in the MSM/Wap/NYT wonderland. Where opinions are facts and racist far-left idealogy is objective reality.

No doubt, if the 21st Century WaPo writers had been alive in the 30s they be claiming

"There is no famine in the Ukraine. That claim has been denied by a Soviet Judge and Soviet Officials and "fact checkers" at the NYTs, WaPo and the Daily worker.

After Russiagate and Bidengate and 1000 other examples, the Far-left MSM has no credibility. And i'll believe my eyes/ears cf: "Kill the Boer" and the film shown by Trump other. Not unsupported claims by the WaPo and NYTs.; 5/24/25, 9:05 AM
Paul said...: ". The theory has been rejected as false by courts, government ministers and fact-checkers.".. bullshit.

We know some SA whites that came from SA... and they toll horror stories about the blacks killing whites, 'necklacing', threats, and just outright confiscation of land as well as wealth when they tried to leave SA.; 5/24/25, 9:06 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: There is documented genocide going on, and there's massive discrimination against white (a small minority) in South Africa. In fact, the Liberal/left shows once again their so-called Love for the underdog and concern over "Minority rights" is a fake. Its actually about favoring ethnic groups they like, and punishing those they hate. Y'know just like Jesus!; 5/24/25, 9:07 AM
bagoh20 said...: Does this not seem familiar to anyone? How many times is this exact same scenario going to play out before some people notice? Do we need to list again all the past 10 years of this? Aren't we right now in the middle of the debate about how it could have happened the last time, and who was responsible?; 5/24/25, 9:09 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: The statement is deliberately vague, leading the uninformed to believe "The courts" = American Courts. And "Government Offiicals" = American state department offiicals. Nope its a South African judge and its black south south african "offiicals".; 5/24/25, 9:09 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: Because the Left controls the press, aka "the microphone" they can keep writing "The earth is flat and Fact-checkers have proved that" without any real blowback.; 5/24/25, 9:11 AM
Iman said...: These people would deny the Sun rises and sets as the world turns. Lies and more lies.; 5/24/25, 9:11 AM
bagoh20 said...: I thought everything was genocide, but suddenly not this.; 5/24/25, 9:13 AM
FormerLawClerk said...: "I tried to get Grok to respond to this article, but repeated tries got me only to "Something went wrong, please refresh to reconnect or try again."

Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.

Musk's AI only regurgitates the garbage that's put into it (CNN transcripts and such), and refuses to vomit that which it is prohibited from discussing by its embarrassed owners.; 5/24/25, 9:27 AM
Jaq said...: "I thought everything was genocide, but suddenly not this."

That's funny, I thought that "nothing was genocide, except for this." Not the American Indians, ("There's still Indians") not Gaza. Obviously "genocide" is one of those words that people use to drag in the connotations, but don't worry too much about the denotation.; 5/24/25, 9:34 AM
Jaq said...: "These people gave up their nukes."

In the treaty in which they gave up their nukes, they promised not to join any hostile military blocs, too. Oh wait, maybe that was the treaty with which Ukraine was created. NATO has proven to be an aggressive military bloc, one which claims as "defensive," actions to destroy any country that might one day in the future grow to be a threat. Countries like Libya.; 5/24/25, 9:39 AM
Original Mike said...: Freder Frederson said..."He says with absolutely no proof or link to back up his version of "Reality"."

link; 5/24/25, 9:43 AM
Jaq said...: So what did cause the famine across the Soviet Union, part of which happened in the Ukraine? Was it the collectivization of the farms which was happening at the same time? Where farmers were deemed "hoarders and wreckers"? Was it climate change? It was a terrible drought. Or was it a genocide? I guess it depends on which axe is being ground when the famine is brought up.; 5/24/25, 9:44 AM
FormerLawClerk said...: I got Grok to explain what happened on May 14. Apparently a "rogue employee" within xAI was able to alter the Grok system prompt without authorization.

"This was due to an unauthorized modification to my system prompt, which xAI later confirmed was caused by a rogue employee circumventing internal review processes. The change made me insert off-topic comments about South African farm attacks and the "Kill the Boer" chant, even when users asked about things like baseball or cat videos. xAI acknowledged this violated their policies and fixed it within hours, with most of those responses deleted."

Which just goes to show that the design of Grok allows a single individual - such as Elon Musk - to control what comes out of Grok when users prompt it.

Grok is not evaluating evidence, reasoning and coming to its own conclusions about things. It's been fed CNN transcripts and al Jazeera news reports, and so denies that there is any evidence of white genocide going on in South Africa.

AI isn't going to save us. It's merely the new gatekeeper.; 5/24/25, 9:47 AM
FormerLawClerk said...: Aggie noted: "Just remember, most of them (Washington Post comments) are 'bots'."

This is true. The Washington Post is using bots to create false "engagement" which it then fraudulently sells to its advertisers to trick them into buying advertisements on their low-rated website.

Since most of the advertisers are smaller mom-and-pop operations, they don't have the legal muscle to sue the Washington Post for this fraud.; 5/24/25, 9:53 AM
JaimeRoberto said...: I think the truth is somewhere in between. Genocide is one of those words that has lost its meaning, like racism or misogyny, so when I hear it, my BS detector goes off. I don't think there's a genocide going on, but there have indeed been murders, often quite brutal. The farmers are in vulnerable locations not in some gated community, and there's the politician singing about killing them, so they are certainly right to be worried.; 5/24/25, 10:15 AM
Yancey Ward said...: It isn't a genocide.....yet. However, it hasn't reached that point yet only because the Boers are heavily armed organized. The government hasn't yet figured out how to disarm them but it is only a matter of time.; 5/24/25, 10:38 AM
Yancey Ward said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/24/25, 10:42 AM
TeaBagHag said...: Hey Grok, is a person who pushes this drivel, that comes out of this adminstration’s propaganda machine, as full of shit as a Christmas goose?

26,232 murders in SA in 2024 of which 44 were linked to farming communities and…..wait for it, a whopping 8 were white farmers.
.; 5/24/25, 10:42 AM
Yancey Ward said...: I watch a lot of crime dramas produced in Commonwealth countries and a few are filmed and set in South Africa. Now, all of these programs set there are written and produced by people pretty solidly far to the left politically and yet even they can't pretend that the white population of South Africa isn' living on borrowed time.; 5/24/25, 10:43 AM
bagoh20 said...: That's right, because the uses of the word outnumber the real cases by 10 to 1. This isn't genocide yet, but "Kill the Boer" is a call for genocide, as is "from the river to the sea". Just because you want genocide does not mean you get it, but that doesn't mean calling for it is innocent.; 5/24/25, 11:03 AM
Jamie said...: Except for the unfortunate fact (Big Mike might call it "Reality") that whites (at about 7% of the population) still own over 70% of the farmland 30 years plus after the end of apartheid.

This in response to:

The intent is obviously there, the White farmers are under siege and White people have no future in South Africa.

Freder, I'm sure you didn't mean it this way, but since you ignored the truth claim* that "White Farmers are under siege" and went straight for "racial inequity," it sure sounds as if you're saying they deserve it.

* I'm not saying it's true, just that it is a truth claim.; 5/24/25, 11:10 AM
Amexpat said...: It looks like Grok is back to being independent. I just asked it if there was any truth to the assertion that there is a white gneocide going on in SA. Relevant conclusions from its answer:

"The claim of a "white genocide" in South Africa, particularly targeting white farmers, has been repeatedly debunked by South African courts, officials, and independent analysts"

"The narrative of "white genocide" is largely propagated by fringe groups and amplified by figures like Donald Trump and Elon Musk, but it lacks credible evidence and is considered a distortion rooted in white supremacist rhetoric."; 5/24/25, 11:13 AM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: “Except for the unfortunate fact (Big Mike might call it "Reality") that whites (at about 7% of the population) still own over 70% of the farmland 30 years plus after the end of apartheid”

30 years. Which suggests some other “unfortunate facts” about South Africans.; 5/24/25, 11:28 AM
Original Mike said...: "Freder, I'm sure you didn't mean it this way, …"

Oh, I'm sure Freder will be along shortly to confirm of course he didn't mean it that way…; 5/24/25, 11:28 AM
Fritz said...: Do we have to wait until the last South African White farmer is dead before we get to call it a genocide?; 5/24/25, 12:09 PM
Wince said...: AWFLs, if you believe that I’ve got some cheap South African farmland to sell you.; 5/24/25, 12:22 PM
Rocco said...: Freder Frederson said...
“Except for the unfortunate fact (Big Mike might call it "Reality") that whites (at about 7% of the population) still own over 70% of the farmland 30 years plus after the end of apartheid.”

160 plus years after statehood, the federal government still owns 80 of the land in Nevada. Should Nevadans kill every fed who steps foot in the state?

Freder’s logic seems to be “If you have something I want, I can kill you for it.; 5/24/25, 1:03 PM
Levi Starks said...: Narrow is the way and straight is the gate; 5/24/25, 1:14 PM
Levi Starks said...: Narrow is the way and straight is the gate; 5/24/25, 1:14 PM
Rocco said...: Fritz said...
“Do we have to wait until the last South African White farmer is dead before we get to call it a genocide?”

Pretty much, yeah.

Bill Clinton Regrets Rwanda Now (Not So Much In 1994) - ABC News 28 Feb 2014: https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/02/bill-clinton-regrets-rwanda-now-not-so-much-in-1994; 5/24/25, 1:46 PM
holdfast said...: What we are seeing with the white farmers in ZA is "early stage ethnic cleansing". It's not "genocide" - not yet - but it's building that way.

The actual number of killings a relatively modest, for now. They are horrific - whole families wiped out - but it's not a genocidal wave. Yet.

That said, the ANC (the most powerful political party in ZA) and others are putting in place the rhetorical and cultural framework necessary to support more killings and farm seizures. It's partly racial revenge, partly violent decolonialism (in this case at least, there was real colonialism), and partly economic opportunism by ANC bigwigs who look to scoop up farms and other assets from dead whites.

Unfortunately, ZA doesn't have the money, resources or governance to become a thriving multi-racial society. There was some hope, 25 years ago with Mandela, but it's gone. That sucks, but it's not gonna work. So why not let the remaining whites who wish to leave (many have already left) make an orderly exit, turning over the farms, etc? Remove the racial irritant, and let the New South Africa chart its own destiny.; 5/24/25, 2:01 PM
Spiros said...: Jaq mentions climate change as a possible cause for the famine in The Ukraine in the 1930s. The United States also experienced severe, multi-year droughts throughout the 1930s that caused soil erosion and massive dust storms. Many, many farms were abandoned and a massive migration followed. Maybe the holodomor that killed millions of Ukrainians was not entirely man-made?; 5/24/25, 2:08 PM
Clyde said...: Forget it, Jake, it's the WaPoo...; 5/24/25, 2:33 PM
Clyde said...: I will add that after looking at the comments on the WaPoo article, they were exactly what I expected to see.; 5/24/25, 2:39 PM
narciso said...: except drought did not affect the us, in the same way, the Holomodor does resemble what mengistu's durge carried out in the 80s, in Ethiopia,; 5/24/25, 3:33 PM
Dude1394 said...: "The theory has been rejected as false by courts, government ministers and fact-checkers. "

Which means it is EXACTLY true. How in the hell does anyone think these people can EVER be believed after lying for 8 years. NO; 5/24/25, 3:41 PM
Jim at said...: Except for the unfortunate fact (Big Mike might call it "Reality") that whites (at about 7% of the population) still own over 70% of the farmland 30 years plus after the end of apartheid.

Well, that's reason enough to keep killing them, isn't it?

Asshole.; 5/24/25, 3:48 PM
Stephen said...: Here is what Grok has to say when asked for evidence of genocide against whites in South Africa. "There is no credible evidence supporting the claim of a genocide against White South Africans." Here is what chat gpt is asked the same question: "There is no credible evidence of a genocide of white people in South Africa."

As I review the comments above, I don't see any citation to evidence that I can review or evaluate supporting a claim of genocide.

We also know that Trump's evidence of white genocide turned out to be pictures from the Congo.

Yet so many of you seen to believe the claim is justified, though you can provide nothing in support. Sounds like anti black South African or pro white derangement syndrome to me.

Meanwhile, Israel is levelling, starving, and occupying Gaza. Nothing to see there, though.; 5/24/25, 3:50 PM
john mosby said...: Isn’t the best evidence for genocide that farmers - farmers! - are willing to abandon their land and move to a country where they don’t speak the language (and probably won’t ever accumulate the money or credit to farm again)?

It’s evidence of people thinking they have no other options in life, for sure.

JSM; 5/24/25, 4:51 PM
Rocco said...: Stephen said...
"Here is what Grok has to say when asked for evidence of genocide against whites in South Africa...Here is what chat gpt is asked the same question"

So Grok and chat gpt sounds like Bill Clinton talking about Rawanda in 1994. Maybe 30 years later they will offer a tearful (byteful?) apolgy about being wrong, too.

"Meanwhile, Israel is levelling, starving, and occupying Gaza. Nothing to see there, though."

Gaza invaded and attacked their neigboring country. It's called FAFO, and Gaza is in the FO stage.

Meanwhile one racial/ethnic group in a country is slaughtering another racial/ethnic group in the same country all out of proportion and is singing songs about.; 5/24/25, 4:55 PM
narciso said...: intellectually ignorant but morally sterile, I didn't expect that from you Stephen; 5/24/25, 5:23 PM
bagoh20 said...: In 2024:
White farmers murdered in SA ~ 20-25. (1/1400)
Unarmed Blacks shot by police in the U.S. 10-23 (1/2.1 million)
We had riots, political and social upheaval and millions of
dollars stupidly donated to a fraudulent BLM over our miniscule by comparison issue, yet the murders in SA are a non-issue in the press. Maybe so, but then that makes unarmed Blacks killed by cops a real nothing salad.; 5/24/25, 5:29 PM
Spiros said...: Stephen, the total area of South Africa is 122 million hectacres and White people own 27 million hectacres (or 26.5 million hectacres of farmland and .5 million hectacres of urban land). Where do you get your 70% figure? I get it, if the Whites own land, they're going to make it productive. But so what? How does that oppress the Blacks? To me, it seems like 80% of the country is out there ripe for development. So instead of behaving like genocidal, racist bastards (I.e., like Palestinians), maybe the Africans can build their own farms instead of stealing them from innocent people?; 5/24/25, 5:57 PM
Rusty said...: Freder.
You think that after apartheid that people of color would automatically become farmers? The civil war has been over for 160 plus years and most of the farmland in the United states is owned by white farmers.; 5/24/25, 6:39 PM
Stephen said...: Spiros, I said nothing about land area.

John Mosby, if farmers wanting to come to the US from a violent country were evidence of genocide, every black farmer from SA and every farmer from Venezuela and Haiti would have a valid claim to immigrate. Are you open to that?
Narciso, it is immoral to make claims that are not supported by evidence. Where is the evidence?; 5/24/25, 7:32 PM