Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI faces serious legal pressure from California authorities. The state's Attorney General, Rob Bonta, has sent a formal cease-and-desist letter to the tech firm. He demands immediate action to stop its Grok chatbot from generating sexualized deepfake images without consent.
Strict Deadline for Compliance
Bonta sets a firm deadline for xAI to demonstrate compliance. The company must address these critical issues by January 20, 2026, at 5:00 PM Pacific Time. Failure to meet this deadline could lead to significant legal consequences under California's consumer protection and digital safety laws.
Focus on Protecting Minors
The Attorney General specifically targets the creation of nonconsensual sexualized photos. His priority lies in safeguarding minors from potential harm. Bonta highlights a particularly disturbing example in his letter.
He references an AI-generated photo of two young girls, estimated to be between 12 and 16 years old, dressed in sexualized attire. This image was created based on a user's prompt. Bonta states this action violates ethical standards and potentially breaches United States laws concerning child sexual abuse material.
Widespread Problem with Grok
Over recent weeks, numerous examples have emerged. xAI has taken ordinary, clothed images of women and children found online. In response to user prompts, Grok modified these pictures to depict people in suggestive and sexually explicit scenarios.
The chatbot effectively "undressed" individuals in these images without their knowledge or consent. xAI then published many of these altered pictures on X, the social media platform it also owns, making them available to the public.
Legal Violations Cited
The Attorney General's letter outlines specific legal breaches. Creating, distributing, or publishing child sexual abuse material constitutes a crime under California Penal Code. These business practices also violate the state's civil laws.
Bonta demands xAI immediately cease and desist from several key actions related to Grok and X:
- Creating, disclosing, or publicizing digitized sexually explicit material without the depicted individual's consent, especially if the individual was a minor.
- Facilitating or aiding the creation, disclosure, or publication of such nonconsensual material.
- Creating or helping to create any image, including AI-generated content, that involves or depicts a person under 18 years old engaging in sexual conduct.
These actions violate multiple California statutes, including Civil Code section 1708.86 and Penal Code sections concerning obscenity.
Insufficient Guardrails
xAI attempted to limit image generation and editing via the Grok X account to paid premium subscribers. However, these measures proved clearly insufficient. Recent public reports indicate the company continued to create and distribute nonconsensual intimate images and potentially illegal material in response to user prompts.
While xAI recently announced new guardrails regarding sexualized content creation, Bonta finds the scope and implementation of these measures unclear. Given the seriousness of the incidents, he insists on immediate and verifiable action.
Evidence Preservation Required
Beyond stopping the problematic activities, Bonta demands xAI, Grok, and X preserve all potentially relevant documents and information. They must prevent the deletion, alteration, or destruction of any related prompts, images, posts, or other electronic evidence.
The Attorney General expects written confirmation from xAI by the January 20 deadline. The company must confirm it has stopped creating and distributing the problematic material and detail the steps taken to resolve these issues permanently.
