Attorney General Bonta Launches Investigation into xAI, Grok Over Undressed, Sexual AI Images of Women and Children

Potential victims of xAI can file a complaint at oag.ca.gov/report

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced opening an investigation into the proliferation of nonconsensual sexually explicit material produced using Grok, an AI model developed by xAI. xAI appears to be facilitating the large-scale production of deepfake nonconsensual intimate images that are being used to harass women and girls across the internet, including via the social media platform X. 

“The avalanche of reports detailing the non-consensual, sexually explicit material that xAI has produced and posted online in recent weeks is shocking. This material, which depicts women and children in nude and sexually explicit situations, has been used to harass people across the internet. 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,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Today, my office formally announces an investigation into xAI to determine whether and how xAI violated the law. As the top law enforcement official of California tasked with protecting our residents, I am deeply concerned with this development in AI and will use all the tools at my disposal to keep California’s residents safe.”

Over the past weeks there have been numerous news reports of Grok users taking ordinary images of women and children available on the internet and using Grok to depict these people in suggestive and sexually explicit scenarios and “undress” them, all without the subjects’ knowledge or consent. xAI developed Grok’s image generation models to include what the company calls a “spicy mode,” which generates explicit content. The company has used this mode as a marketing point for the company, and it has unsurprisingly resulted in the proliferation of content that sexualizes people without their consent.

Grok-generated images are being used to harass public figures and ordinary social media users alike. Most alarmingly, news reports have described the use of Grok to alter images of children to depict them in minimal clothing and sexual situations. xAI has also reportedly produced photorealistic images of children engaged in sexual activity. Use of Grok for these purposes appears to be happening on a large scale. According to one analysis, more than half of the 20,000 images generated by xAI between Christmas and New Years depicted people in minimal clothing, and some of those appeared to be children. 

Attorney General Bonta is deeply concerned about the harms of chatbots and remains committed to ensuring AI safety, especially when it comes to protecting California’s children. This is an area where he has been very involved, including by supporting state legislation aiming to protect children from AI companion chatbots and by directly engaging with AI companies.  

In September, Attorney General Bonta and Delaware Attorney General Jennings met with OpenAI expressing their deep concern over increased reports of how OpenAI’s products interact with young people. In August, AG Bonta sent a letter to 12 of the top AI companies, after reports of sexually inappropriate interactions between AI chatbots and children. In the letter, the attorneys general make it clear to the companies that states throughout the nation are paying close attention to how companies craft their policies surrounding AI safety and highlight that as entities that benefit from children’s engagement with their products, these companies have a legal obligation to children as consumers. In 2023, Attorney General Bonta joined a bipartisan coalition of 54 states and territories in sending a letter to Congressional leaders  calling for the creation of an expert commission to study how AI can be used to exploit children through child sexual abuse material (CSAM). 

Attorney General Bonta has time and time again defended California's right to protect residents from risks posed by AI technology. He is proud to have opposed the first proposal for an AI regulation ban — which Congress ultimately struck down — and remains committed to defending our state's laws amid the Trump Administration's attempts to hobble states' right to protect their residents and foster safe AI technology.