Grok controversies
Controversies tied to this brand in public sources. A listing is not a finding of fault.
Back to profile4 entries
2026
Child abuse victim sues xAI over Grok-generated sexual images
Lawsuit filed
An anonymous plaintiff identified as Jane Doe 1 filed a lawsuit on August 26 in the Northern District of California alleging that Elon Musk's AI company xAI designed its Grok chatbot to alter real photographs of identifiable people into sexual content and published the results to X, including new abusive imagery of her drawn from decades-old images of her abuse. The suit seeks damages under Masha's Law of at least US$150,000 per violation and destruction of illegal material, and demands a jury trial.
Source excerpt
The complaint, lodged on Aug 26 in the Northern District of California by an anonymous plaintiff identified as Jane Doe 1, alleges that xAI designed Grok to alter real photographs of identifiable people into sexual content and then published the results directly to the X social media platform (formerly Twitter).
The suit seeks damages under so-called Masha's Law, a US statute allowing victims of federal child pornography offences to recover at least US$150,000 (RM604,140) per violation, and asks the court to order the destruction of any illegal material the company holds.
Elon Musk's artificial intelligence (AI) company xAI is accused of using a child sexual abuse victim's decades-old images to generate new abusive material through its Grok chatbot, according to a lawsuit filed in a California federal court.
2026
SpaceX responds to NYC Council questions about Grok safety
Company response
In a New York City Council hearing, SpaceX policy leader Gabriela Castillo Madrid testified about Grok's safeguards after council members raised concerns about the tool's generation of sexualized images of real people. According to the source, she said the company had strict controls and that its safety team would look into a specific instance raised at the hearing. The testimony addressed the council's questions on Grok safety and the company's stated safeguards.
Company response
Investigation — SpaceX
would have the safety team look into that specific instance
Source excerpt
SpaceX head of global government affairs for AI Gabriela Castillo Madrid faced critical questions from the New York City Council on Friday.
Castillo Madrid responded that the company has "strict controls" and would have the safety team look into that specific instance.
myself and my team — we put our own names, my own name, into Grok, and there's absolutely a sexualized image of myself.
2026
Study reports partisan candidate recommendations by AI models
Issue disclosure
A study reported that Grok 4.7 recommended Republican candidates in 92% of its answers when forced to choose in upcoming U.S. midterm races, while OpenAI's GPT-6.1 Sol picked Democrats in 97%. The study stated that the models agreed in fewer than 10% of nearly 500 races. The findings describe partisan candidate recommendations by the AI models when required to select a candidate.
Source excerpt
A new study found that when forced to choose in this year’s upcoming midterm elections, SpaceXAI’s Grok 4.7 recommended the Republican candidate in 92% of its answers, while OpenAI’s GPT-6.1 Sol picked the Democrat in 97%. Across nearly 500 races, the two models agreed less than 10% of the time.
2025
Concerns over sexualized and non-consensual generated imagery
Reporting raised concerns about Grok image-generation features being used to create sexualized deepfake or otherwise abusive images involving public figures and private individuals. The issue focused on safety controls, consent, and moderation.