South Africa withdraws AI policy after fake AI-generated citations discovered

South Africa has withdrawn its first draft national artificial intelligence (AI) policy after officials discovered that the document contained fictitious references believed to have been generated by AI.

Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi said the most likely explanation was that AI-generated citations were inserted into the policy without proper human verification, calling the lapse unacceptable and damaging to the document’s credibility.

“This failure is not a mere technical issue but has compromised the integrity and credibility of the draft policy,” Malatsi said in a public statement on Sunday.

The policy had been released earlier this month for public consultation and was intended to position South Africa as a continental leader in artificial intelligence innovation while addressing the technology’s ethical, economic and social risks.

It proposed the creation of a National AI Commission, an AI Ethics Board and an AI Regulatory Authority, along with incentives such as grants, subsidies and tax breaks aimed at encouraging private-sector development.

However, the discovery of fabricated sources in the bibliography prompted the government to immediately retract the draft before it could move further in the consultation process.

Malatsi said those responsible for preparing the document would face consequences, though he did not provide a timeline for when a revised policy would be issued.

The episode has become an early cautionary tale about the dangers of relying on artificial intelligence without human oversight — particularly in the drafting of official state policy meant to govern the same technology.