A recently identified glitch in the iPhone’s dictation app has led to an amusing yet controversial occurrence: the app is substituting the word “Trump” with “racist.” This unexpected mix-up is likely to spark laughter among liberals while igniting frustration among conservatives.
The peculiar issue was initially uncovered by users on TikTok and other social media platforms. They noted that when they vocalized “racist,” the dictation app sometimes, albeit briefly, returned the name of the current president, as highlighted by Variety. Apple has acknowledged this issue, revealing that their app can occasionally misinterpret one word for another. “We are aware of an issue with the speech recognition model that powers Dictation and we are rolling out a fix today,” an Apple spokesperson confirmed to Variety.
So, how might Apple rationalize this peculiar error? The company has suggested that their speech-recognition technology “may temporarily display words with some phonetic overlap before arriving at the correct term.” While this explanation could theoretically hold water, it raises questions about the phonetic similarities between “Trump” and “racist.” Variety’s own experiments indicate that other words capable of triggering “trump” might include “ramp,” “rhubarb,” “rhythmic,” and “ruffles.” The broader insight could simply suggest that Apple’s dictation app has its share of flaws. Notably, the tech giant has been progressively weaving AI capabilities into its product offerings.
**SURPRISING iPhone faux pas:** Speak “racist,” and watch “TRUMP” magically appear!
Was this just a glitch? pic.twitter.com/zXbFsgsPVM
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) February 25, 2025
One TikTok influencer managed to replicate the glitch multiple times, sharing a video where the text transitions from “Trump” to “racist.” “How do they even manage that? It’s kind of alarming,” she remarks in her clip.
Gizmodo has reached out to Apple for further comments and insights regarding this glitch.
This incident is unlikely to quell the fears within conservative circles that Big Tech harbors biases against them. Despite the tech sector’s apparent efforts to cozy up to Trump since the election, conservatives have often been skeptical about whether the tech elite truly align with their values. The perceived grievances against the MAGA community, while generally minor, have been evident. Noteworthy past controversies include an election-related incident where Amazon Alexa appeared to favor Kamala Harris over Trump in its responses, and Google’s criticized AI image generator, which sparked the “Black vikings” controversy.
Priyam Gera