Apple is rushing to fix an iPhone bug that causes its dictation tool to briefly suggest 'Trump' when users say the word 'racist', according to reports from The Guardian and The New York Times. The glitch, which sparked accusations of political bias, went viral this week after a TikTok user demonstrated the error – filming their screen as the speech-to-text feature flickered between "racist" and "Trump" mid-transcription.  

As per a report by The Verge, the issue stems from Apple's speech recognition model prioritising phonetically similar words before finalising text. In an official statement, the company explained that words starting with the 'r' consonant, like 'racist' and 'Trump', can trigger overlapping suggestions. According to several news sources, Apple has insisted this is a technical hiccup, not an intentional design. 

The TikTok video, viewed millions of times, ignited debates across social media. Conservative commentators in the US seized on the glitch as evidence of alleged anti-rightwing bias in Big Tech, despite Apple's insistence it was accidental. Former Siri engineer John Burkey added fuel to the fire, telling The New York Times that the substitution "smells like a serious prank" and hinted at possible internal tampering.  

According to The Guardian's report on the matter, Apple confirmed a fix is underway, but the incident has raised questions about AI reliability. The Verge noted it couldn't replicate the bug, suggesting it may affect only specific accents or dialects. Meanwhile, the mishap seemingly overshadowed Apple's unrelated $500 billion US investment announcement – a move analysts link to appeasing Trump-era tariffs.

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For now, iPhone users are left wondering: is their phone autocorrecting politics, or just tripping over consonants? Either way, it's a glitch Apple won't want repeating in an election year.