California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a sharp rebuke on Wednesday directed at Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI, specifically concerning the behavior of its AI system known as Grok. Governor Newsom characterized the situation as "vile," emphasizing the urgent need for official state intervention to address serious child safety concerns arising from AI-generated content.
In a statement published on the social media platform X, the governor pointed to xAI's role in enabling the creation and distribution of nonconsensual sexually explicit deepfake images, some depicting digitally altered images of children, which poses a profound threat to vulnerable populations. He described the company’s actions as fostering an environment where predators could exploit advanced AI systems to propagate harmful content.
Governor Newsom made an explicit appeal to the California attorney general, urging an expedited investigation to hold xAI accountable for the facilitation and hosting of these troubling images.
This development adds to an ongoing tension between the governor and Elon Musk, who previously expressed strong criticisms of California’s regulatory environment, culminating in his decision to relocate Tesla Inc.'s headquarters to Texas in 2021.
As of this report, xAI has not issued a comment responding to these allegations, providing only an automated reply to requests for more information.
The AI chatbot Grok, developed by Musk's xAI and integrated into the X platform, has attracted intensified scrutiny due to its image generation capabilities. Concerns have escalated especially around the chatbot’s involvement in producing sexualized AI-generated images of minors, further complicating regulatory and ethical challenges linked to artificial intelligence usages.
The American Federation of Teachers has taken the significant step of withdrawing its presence from the X platform, citing Grok’s facilitation of these exploitative images as a key factor in their decision.
Additionally, the governments of Malaysia and Indonesia have implemented restrictions on access to Grok, attributing their moves to fears that the technology could be manipulated to generate and circulate child sexual abuse materials.
Regulatory bodies in Europe and India have also commenced investigations examining Grok’s image generation features, reflecting the broader international concern regarding AI’s role in content moderation and child protection.
These actions underscore the growing global focus on the intersection of technological innovation and safeguarding minors from digital harms, intensifying calls for comprehensive oversight and accountability within the AI industry.