Apple to address iPhone dictation bug linking "racist" to "Trump"

Wednesday 26 February 2025 - 14:34

Apple has acknowledged a bug in its iPhone dictation tool that has led to the automatic replacement of the word "racist" with "Trump." This issue was initially discovered in a TikTok post, where users noticed that the speech-to-text tool would sometimes display "Trump" after they said "racist." The glitch was later shared widely on social media platforms.

An Apple spokesperson confirmed the problem, stating, “We are aware of an issue with the speech recognition model that powers dictation, and we are rolling out a fix.” The company explained that the bug resulted from the speech recognition tool occasionally displaying words that shared "phonetic overlap" with the intended word, such as words beginning with the "r" sound.

The glitch stirred controversy, particularly among conservative figures in the U.S., who have frequently accused major tech companies of political bias. The incident raised additional questions about Apple's artificial intelligence capabilities, which came under scrutiny just a day after the company revealed a $500 billion investment plan in the U.S. This move was seen by some as a gesture aimed at aligning with the Trump administration.

The investment, which is expected to span the next four years, includes the construction of a large factory in Texas focused on artificial intelligence servers and the creation of around 20,000 research and development jobs across the country. This announcement came shortly after Apple CEO Tim Cook’s meeting with former President Trump. Apple’s investment in the U.S. comes at a time when the company faces potential tariffs on its devices, many of which are assembled in China.

This is not the first time Apple has made significant investments in the U.S. under the Trump administration. In 2018, during his first term, Apple announced it would contribute $350 billion to the U.S. economy over five years through new and existing investments.

Following Trump's presidency and his executive orders reversing various diversity and inclusion initiatives, several tech companies, including Google, Amazon, and Meta, have similarly rolled back similar programs. However, Apple shareholders recently voted against a proposal to end its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.