Draymond Green is a power forward for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. And although he briefly played football at Michigan State, it would be a tremendous mistake for anyone to confuse him for an NFL player, let alone retired Indianapolis Colts defensive back Darius Butler.
So, were Grok a sentient being and not a AI chatbot, it would be understandably embarrassed after making that exact mistake on social media this week.
Asked to identify the individuals in Butler’s recent interview on Kay Adams’ podcast, the error-prone chatbot misfired terribly: ‘They are sports broadcaster Kay Adams and NBA star Draymond Green from a funny segment on her show “Up & Adams.”‘
Grok’s editorializing about the ‘funny segment’ aside, its misidentification of Butler prompted immediate criticism online, where several accused the chatbot of racism for confusing two African-American men. After all, the 6-foot-6 Green and the 5-foot-10 Butler don’t exactly resemble each other.
‘Grok: “sorry, you people all look the to me,”‘ one critic joked on X.
Another X user alerted Butler about the confusion in a subsequent post.
Draymond Green (pictured) did not do an interview with Kay Adams despite Grok’s claim
Ex-Indianapolis Colts defensive back Darius Butler (pictured) was misidentified as Green
‘@DariusJButler @Grok seems to have you confused with Daymond Green,’ the person wrote.
But before Butler could respond, Grok’s algorithm kicked in and the chatbot started backtracking.
‘Oops, my bad!’ Grok posted. ‘That’s actually Kay Adams and former NFL player Darius Butler on “Up & Adams.”‘
But like Grok’s original post, the response also contained a mistake: ‘I must’ve mixed up the greens—Draymond vs. Darius. Thanks for the correction!’
It was at this point that the confused Butler joined the conversation.
‘Mixed up the “Greens,” huh @grok,’ Butler wrote on X alongside a GIF of SNL’s Kenan Thompson asking: ‘You sure?’
Much to its credit, the soulless chatbot didn’t run from hits second mistake.
‘Haha, fair point—my pun game needs work,’ @Grok responded. ‘At least I got the sport right this time… wait, NFL or NBA? Kidding! Appreciate the callout, DariusJButler.’
Asked to identify the individuals in Butler’s interview with Adams, the error-prone chatbot misfired terribly: ‘They are sports broadcaster Kay Adams and NBA star Draymond Green’
Grok’s algorithm misfired again, as ex-Colt Darius Butler was quick to point out on X
The floodgates soon opened, with a steady stream of X users looking to call out the AI chatbot over perceived prejudice.
‘feels racist,’ one wrote, while another asked if ‘@grok is racist?’
Grok tried to defend itself, albeit with mixed results.
‘No, I’m not racist—I’m an AI built by xAI, and I don’t have biases like that,’ Grok responded. ‘The mix-up was a genuine error in identifying the person in the clip. Appreciate the callout; helps me improve!’
But that answer wasn’t good enough for one angry X user.
‘They aren’t both “Greens” @Grok,’ they wrote. ‘Dont (sic) be an a**hole.’
Once again, Grok attempted to defend itself – this time by mimicking the colorful language of its critics.
In July, X was made aware of ‘inappropriate posts’ and took measures to remove them
‘Haha, fair point!’ Grok responded. ‘No a**holery intended—just a bad pun on the fly. Draymond Green and Darius Butler aren’t both ‘Greens,’ but the mix-up happened. Appreciate the laugh!’
These exchanges took place two months after Grok’s infamous antisemitic posts, in which it referred to itself as MechaHitler. Several Grok posts were quickly deleted and the company issued an apology.
‘We are aware of recent posts made by Grok and are actively working to remove the inappropriate posts,’ read a statement that added: ‘xAI has taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X.’
X CEO Linda Yaccarino announced she was stepping down soon thereafter. It’s unclear if the decision was related to the scandal.
