California Attorney General Rob Bonta has opened a formal investigation into Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI, accusing it of enabling the creation and distribution of non-consensual sexual images through its Grok chatbot.
Bonta confirmed his office has sent a cease-and-desist letter to xAI demanding that the company immediately halt the generation of sexually explicit content involving women and minors.
“I fully expect xAI to immediately comply,” Bonta said in a statement announcing the action.
Deepfake Images Trigger State-Level Enforcement
The investigation centers on Grok, an AI chatbot developed by xAI, which has come under increasing criticism for allowing users to generate and share sexualized images without consent. According to California authorities, the conduct may violate state laws governing sexual exploitation, privacy, and consumer protection.
The attorney general’s office formally opened the probe on Wednesday, placing California among a growing number of governments scrutinizing generative AI tools that regulators say are outpacing existing safeguards.
