After xAI’s chatbot Grok spent a few hours on Wednesday telling every X user that would listen that the claim of white genocide in South Africa is highly contentious, the company has blamed the behavior on an “unauthorized modification” to Grok’s code.

Grok’s references to “white genocide” drew mockery and memes, fueling speculation over Elon Musk’s influence as xAI blamed a prompt update.

Elon Musk’s chatbot Grok, developed by his artificial intelligence company xAI, shocked users on Wednesday after it responded to a question on X claiming that it had been “instructed to address the topic of white genocide in South Africa.