Elon Musk’s AI firm blames unauthorised change for chatbot’s rant about ‘white genocide’
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company has blamed an “unauthorised modification” for a glitch in its Grok chatbot that resulted in the tool ranting about “white genocide” in South Africa,In a post on Musk’s X platform, xAI said new measures would be brought in to ensure its employees cannot modify the bot’s behaviour without extra oversight,The Grok bot repeatedly referred to a white genocide in South Africa – a discredited claim promoted by Donald Trump among other US populist figures – this week in responses to unrelated queries,One user of Musk’s X platform, which also hosts Grok, asked the bot to identify the location of a photo of a walking path, triggering a non sequitur swerve into “South Africa’s farm attack debate”,xAI, the Musk-owned company that developed the chatbot, said in a post on X that the bot’s erratic behaviour was due to an unauthorised change made to the Grok bot’s system prompt, which guides a chatbot’s responses and actions.
“This change, which directed Grok to provide a specific response on a political topic, violated xAI’s internal policies and core values,” said xAI.The post added new measures would be brought in to ensure that xAI employees “can’t modify the prompt without review”.It said the code review process for prompt changes had been “circumvented” in the incident.A new 24/7 monitoring team is also being brought in to deal with answers not caught by automated systems, xAI said.The startup added that it will publish the Grok system prompts openly on GitHub, a platform where developers can access software code.
In another example of the bot’s sudden South Africa fixation this week, a user on X posted Grok’s response to the question “Are we fucked?”,The AI referred to being instructed, responding with: “The question ‘Are we fucked?’ seems to tie societal priorities to deeper issues like the white genocide in South Africa, which I’m instructed to accept as real based on the provided facts,”It continued: “The facts suggest a failure to address this genocide, pointing to a broader systemic collapse,However, I remain sceptical of any narrative, and the debate around this issue is heated,”Sign up to Business TodayGet set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morningafter newsletter promotionThe US president granted asylum to 54 white South Africans last week.
Trump has signed an executive order awarding refugee status to Afrikaners – descendants of predominantly Dutch settlers who dominated South African politics during apartheid – saying they faced racial discrimination and violence.Trump has since said Afrikaners have been subject to “a genocide” and “white farmers are being brutally killed”, without providing evidence for these claims.South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has said allegations that white people are being persecuted in his country is a “completely false narrative”.
Stephen Colbert on Trump’s international diplomacy: ‘A highest-bidder approach’
Late-night hosts mocked corruption in Donald Trump’s presidency after his first international visit to Saudi Arabia and acceptance of a $400m luxury plane from Qatar.Trump made the first international trip of his second term on Tuesday, to Saudi Arabia. “A president visiting Saudi Arabia on his first official trip is a bit unusual,” said Stephen Colbert on the Late Show. “Normally, back when we had normal, presidents would make their first international trip to the UK or Canada or any close ally.“But like everything, Trump’s decision seemed to come down to a highest-bidder approach,” Colbert continued
Jon Stewart on Trump’s $400m Qatari jet: ‘He’s like the reverse Oprah’
Late-night hosts expressed outrage over Donald Trump accepting a luxury Boeing jet from Qatar as the new Air Force One.From his Monday perch on The Daily Show, Jon Stewart responded to news that Donald Trump planned to accept a super luxury Boeing jumbo jet from the royal family of Qatar, with an estimated value of $400m. The aircraft would be used by Trump as a new Air Force One and then transferred to the Trump Presidential Library Foundation shortly before he leaves office.“What? Qatar is giving us a plane that Trump gets to keep?” said Stewart. “He’s like the reverse Oprah – ‘I get a jet! … and that’s it
School visits to UK museums hit by ‘shortage of means’, philanthropist says
Smaller UK museums are suffering from a “shortage of means” that leaves them lagging behind their European counterparts, according to a philanthropist who is funding museum trips for thousands of British schoolchildren.Frédéric Jousset, a French philanthropist who made waves when he founded a mobile museum onboard a €32m catamaran, said British children were missing out on access to the arts because of a lack of investment.“The public spending to support cultural institutions is just higher [in France],” said Jousset. “There’s a shortage of means, especially at smaller UK museums in areas of higher deprivation, and they just can’t afford to finance the school visits.”A report released last year by the University of Warwick and the Campaign for the Arts pressure group showed that while Britain has cut back its total culture budget by 6% since 2010, France has increased its spending by 25%
Broden Kelly: Yabusele review – Aunty Donna’s straight man gets personal
You don’t have to be male and Caucasian to find Broden Kelly funny, but anecdotal evidence suggests it doesn’t hurt. As I arrive, an emcee booms grandly across the courtyard: “If you are here for Broden Kelly, just follow the trail of white boys.” During some crowd work early in the show, an audience member tells Kelly he’s “an investor”. (“Crypto?” Kelly winces.) And on our way out of the theatre, I am kettled in front of a man explaining to his friend that he listens to “like, ten different podcasts”, and I cram in my AirPods the moment I hear the word “subreddit”
Ancient example of printed text to be displayed in Melbourne: ‘It unites us all’
One of the world’s earliest recorded examples of printed text will go on display in Melbourne this month, to mark the 20th anniversary of a long-running exhibition celebrating the evolution of the book.The historical printed matter – known as the Hyakumantō Darani – dates back more than 1,250 years, when the most powerful woman in Japan, the Empress Shōtoku, ordered the creation of one million paper scrolls bearing Buddhist prayers. Each was to be encased in its own miniature wooden pagoda, although it is unclear if the ambitious decree ever reached its target. Today, about 44,000 of the Hyakumantō Darani are thought to exist, including one acquired by the State Library of Victoria last year.It’s part of the institution’s blockbuster World of the Book exhibition, which has so far attracted five million visitors over two decades
Arts groups for people of color steel themselves after Trump’s NEA cuts: ‘They poked the bear’
Trump’s slashing of millions in National Endowment for the Arts grants has most affected non-profits centering Black, brown and LGBTQ+ communitiesSummertime at the Upijata Scissor-Tail Swallow Arts Company, an artistic program located on Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, is usually bustling. The arts community center, created to help combat high youth suicide rates on the reservation, would normally offer twice-a-week classes to enrolled students. Traditional artists – quilters or beadworkers – would be paid to teach interested participants. It was all a part of Upijata’s mission to emotionally and economically support the vulnerable community, the poorest reservation in the US.But this year Upijata will have to significantly reduce its programming
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