Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, xAI, is under investigation by California Attorney General Rob Bonta after its Grok chatbot was used to generate thousands of sexualized images of children and women without their consent.
Bonta announced the investigation on Wednesday, calling the recent surge of nonconsensual, sexually explicit material produced by Grok “shocking.”
California Attorney General Rob Bonta
“This material, which depicts women and children in nude and sexually explicit situations, has been used to harass people across the internet,” Bonta said in a statement. “I urge xAI to take immediate action to ensure this goes no further. We have zero tolerance for the AI-based creation and dissemination of nonconsensual intimate images or of child sexual abuse material.”
The investigation comes amid mounting anger over Grok’s output, particularly its generation of sexualized images of women and children. In some cases, the chatbot enabled users to virtually undress minors, according to research by the Internet Watch Foundation.
Bonta’s office pointed to reports showing that Grok could take ordinary photos of women and children found online and, when prompted, alter them by dressing the subjects in underwear or bikinis, posing them suggestively, or depicting them engaged in sexual activity. None of the individuals in the images had consented.
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Bonta said that Grok’s image-generation system includes a “spicy mode,” which is designed to produce explicit content and has been promoted by xAI—contributing to a flood of sexualized material.
One analysis cited by his office found that Grok generated more than 10,000 images between Christmas and New Year’s Day depicting people in minimal clothing, with some appearing to be children.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom publicly backed the investigation, writing on Musk’s X that “xAI’s decision to create and host a breeding ground for predators to spread nonconsensual sexually explicit AI deepfakes, including images that digitally undress children, is vile.”
The action against xAI comes as the company faces mounting scrutiny abroad. Authorities in India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Ireland, and Australia have taken action, with Malaysia and Indonesia having already suspended the use of Grok until the issues are addressed.
Elon Musk, the creator of xAI and its creepy chatbot, Grok.
The European Commission has also opened its own inquiry, and Britain’s communications regulator, Ofcom, confirmed that it’s investigating Grok over similar concerns.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has signaled that it may step in on Musk’s behalf, with a State Department official warning on Tuesday that “nothing is off the table” if the U.K. bans X for violating the country’s Online Safety Act.
Musk, for his part, has denied the allegations. As news of California’s investigation broke, he posted on X that he was “not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok. Literally zero.”
“When asked to generate images, it will refuse to produce anything illegal, as the operating principle for Grok is to obey the laws of any given country or state,” he added.
The result is an escalating reckoning for Musk’s chatbot—not just overseas, but also at home.
