‘I sent xAI a cease-and-desist letter’: California’s Attorney General takes action against Grok amid major backlash

The Attorney General of California Robert Bonta on Friday announced that it is investigating xAI over Grok using its chatbot to create the sexually explicit images of women and young girls.    

Cease-and-desist letter

The government sent a cease-and-desist letter to the company, demanding to take immediate action to stop the production of nonconsensual images and child sexual abuse.  

“Today, I sent xAI a cease-and-desist letter, demanding the company immediately stop the creation and distribution of deepfake, nonconsensual, intimate images and child sexual abuse material,” said Bonta  

“The avalanche of reports detailing this material — at times depicting women and children engaged in sexual activity — is shocking and, as my office has determined, potentially illegal,” he added.

Musk under scrutiny 

xAI, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, has been unfolded under global outrage over the past couple of weeks after Grok began flooding the social media site X with nonconsensual images of women and some minors in revealing clothes and degrading clothes.  

Although xAI has since rolled back Grok’s public posting of hyper-realistic sexualized imagery, sometimes called deepfakes, the chatbot privately generates such imagery on demand as of midday Friday US Eastern Time, according to Reuters tests.

California’s move joins a list of countries who have taken action against Grok after Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines banned Grok.  

This mounted pressure on Elon Musk as the platform received major backlash after the episode unfolded. Earlier Friday, Japanese authorities said they too were probing X over Grok, saying all options were under consideration to prevent the generation of inappropriate images.

Economic Security Minister Kimi Onoda said officials had requested that X implement immediate improvements but they have yet to receive a response from the company.