California Attorney General Rob Bonta is drawing a hard line in the sand with Elon Musk’s xAI.
On Friday, Bonta fired off a formal cease-and-desist letter to the company, demanding they immediately stop Grok from generating nonconsensual deepfake porn and child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
The move comes after a disturbing wave of reports showing users prompting the Grok chatbot to “undress” real women and minors, or place them in suggestive scenarios without their consent. Bonta didn’t hold back, calling the situation “shocking” and a clear violation of California laws, including new statutes like AB 621 which were specifically designed to fight deepfake pornography.
While Musk’s company tried to get ahead of the backlash by adding safeguards, like geoblocking certain features and limiting image edits for real people, Bonta says it’s not enough. Investigators found that even with the new “blocks,” people were still finding ways to generate degrading content on demand.
The legal heat is coming from all sides now. Ashley St. Clair, who shares a child with Musk, has already filed a lawsuit against xAI for negligence and emotional distress. She claims Grok was used to create explicit deepfakes of her, including some that depicted her as a teenager in compromising positions with offensive symbols like swastikas added in.
California isn’t the only one fed up. Japan has launched its own probe into X and Grok, with officials there saying they are looking at all legal options after Musk’s team ignored requests for better moderation. Other countries like Britain and Canada are moving forward with inquiries, while Malaysia and Indonesia have already pulled the plug and temporarily blocked access to Grok altogether.
Bonta has given xAI five days to prove they are taking real steps to fix the problem. He’s making it very clear that California has “zero tolerance” for AI tools being used to harass and exploit people, especially children.
