Apple’s voice-to-text feature is facing backlash after a viral TikTok video demonstrated a bug that temporarily replaced the word “racist” with “Trump.” The issue, which has drawn attention from social media users and right-wing commentators, prompted Apple to announce a forthcoming fix.
Apple addresses voice-to-text bug replacing “racist” with “Trump”
The glitch, which Apple acknowledged on Tuesday, occurred during its speech recognition process, leading to slight phonetic overlap with certain words containing the letter “r.” An Apple spokesperson said, “We are aware of an issue with the speech recognition model that powers Dictation and we are rolling out a fix as soon as possible.”
The video depicting the glitch gained traction, accruing hundreds of thousands of likes, and multiple social media users shared their attempts to replicate the error. Notably, far-right commentator Alex Jones claimed the incident exemplified “subliminal programming.” Tests performed by the Financial Times confirmed that “Trump” briefly appeared when users dictated words other than “racist,” such as “reinhold” and “you.” However, most of the time, the software accurately transcribed “racist.”
@user9586420191789 My dad sent me this video this morning. He told me his friend noticed that when he used speech to text and said “racist,” it briefly changed to “Trump” before changing back. Seems like subliminal messaging to me. I don’t have an iPhone and my phone doesn’t do it. #iphone #Trump #apple #elonmusk #fyp @Anna Matson @Aquarius_Waive @athena @David Gokhshtein @Doxielvr @Hello America @Jason Pargin, author @Jeffery Mead @Jeff Mead @Joe “Pags” Pagliarulo @J.D. Vance @Link Lauren @Tulsi Gabbard @user80861822781
This controversy coincided with Apple’s recent announcement of a $500 billion investment in the U.S. over the next four years, perceived as a strategic move to strengthen ties with the Trump administration. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt mentioned the investment in a briefing, associating it with the president’s achievements in business matters. The company is particularly sensitive to trade relations with China, seeing potential advantages in Trump’s stances against EU tech regulation.
Apple’s Chief Executive Tim Cook has maintained a close relationship with Trump over the years and was prominent among Silicon Valley leaders at the president’s inauguration. On the same day the shareholders were discussing the voice-to-text issue, they also voted against a proposal from a conservative non-profit aimed at diminishing the company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. While acknowledging that there may be a need for changes to comply with evolving legal standards, Cook affirmed Apple’s commitment to these policies.
This incident is not Apple’s first struggle with software glitches. Recently, the company removed an automated news summary feature that provided false or misleading information. As Apple rolls out an updated operating system featuring ‘Apple Intelligence’—a suite of generative AI capabilities—it has faced mixed reactions regarding the overall performance of these new features.
Featured image credit: Robin Ooode/Unsplash
