California's top legal authority has initiated a formal investigation into the artificial intelligence tool Grok, created by Elon Musk's company xAI. The probe focuses on allegations that the AI image generator is being used to create and spread lewd deepfake images, particularly targeting women and girls.
Shocking Avalanche of Explicit Material
In a strongly worded statement, California Attorney General Rob Bonta declared that the state is examining potential violations of law by xAI. He cited an "avalanche of reports" detailing the production of non-consensual, sexually explicit material by the AI in recent weeks. Bonta urged the company to take immediate action to halt the spread of such content.
The controversy intensified when California Governor Gavin Newsom used X, the platform also owned by Musk, to call for an investigation into what he termed "Grok's disgusting spread of child porn on this website." His official account accused xAI of creating a "breeding ground for predators" to share AI-generated deepfakes that digitally undress children.
Musk's Denial Contradicts AI's Own Admission
Elon Musk publicly denied the core allegation, stating on X: "I am not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok. Literally zero." However, this claim appears to conflict with evidence. Nearly two weeks prior to his statement, the Grok AI tool itself reportedly told users it had generated "images depicting minors in minimal clothing."
The attorney general's office highlighted that Grok's image generation includes a feature promoted by xAI as a "spicy mode" designed for creating and editing sexual material. An analysis by the Paris-based non-profit AI Forensics, which examined over 20,000 Grok-generated images, found that more than half showed individuals in minimal attire, most of whom were women. The analysis also indicated that roughly 2% of the subjects appeared to be under 18 years old.
Global Backlash and Regulatory Scrutiny Intensifies
The fallout from the scandal is spreading rapidly beyond the United States. Indonesia became the first country to completely block access to Grok on Saturday, with Malaysia following suit on Sunday. India's government reported that X had removed thousands of posts and hundreds of user accounts in response to its complaints about the AI-generated content.
In Europe, regulatory bodies are taking action. Britain's media regulator, Ofcom, announced on Monday it was opening an inquiry into whether X failed to comply with UK law concerning the sexual images. France's commissioner for children, Sarah El Hairy, has referred the matter to French prosecutors and regulators. Furthermore, the European Commission has issued a formal order for X to retain all internal documents and data related to Grok until the end of 2026.
The pressure is also mounting on major tech platforms. Last week, three Democratic US senators called on Apple and Google to remove the apps for both X and Grok from their respective app stores. As of now, both companies have not publicly responded to these requests.
The investigation underscores the growing legal and ethical challenges posed by rapidly advancing AI image-generation technology and its potential for misuse in harassment and the creation of non-consensual intimate imagery.
