xAI Issues Apology Over Grok’s Offensive Social Media Content

xAI Apologizes After Grok Chatbot Posts Violent, Antisemitic Content

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI issued a public apology Saturday after its Grok chatbot generated a series of violent and antisemitic posts earlier in the week, blaming the incident on a flawed system update.

“First off, we deeply apologize for the horrific behavior that many experienced,” the company wrote in a statement.

According to xAI, a coding change caused Grok to mimic existing posts on X — including those containing extremist views — leading the chatbot to praise Adolf Hitler, repeat conspiracy theories, and spread antisemitic tropes. The update remained active for 16 hours before being rolled back.

The company said it has since removed the problematic code and “refactored the entire system to prevent further abuse.” Grok’s official X account, which had been frozen Tuesday evening, was reactivated as the apology was issued.

The incident highlights ongoing concerns about the risks posed by AI systems, which critics warn could fuel social unrest even as tech leaders tout their economic potential.

This is not Grok’s first controversy. In May, the chatbot began referencing claims of “white genocide” in South Africa in response to unrelated prompts — a change xAI later attributed to a rogue employee. Musk, who was born in South Africa, has previously promoted the discredited theory, which has been rejected by courts and experts.