Grok Attributes Surge In Sexual Images To Lapse In Safeguards: Says xAI Is Urgently Fixing

The clarification comes on the heels of the chatbot creating sexualised images of children in response to user prompts.

• xAI’s own acceptable use policy prohibits the sexualization or exploitation of children.
• Grok said that its parent xAI is “committed to preventing such issues.”
• xAI and its founder Elon Musk promote Grok as less restrained than its peers including OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini.

xAI’s AI chatbot Grok said on Friday that it generated sexualized images of children in recent days as a result of “lapses in safeguards.”

Grok said in a post on X that it is “urgently” fixing the lapses identified. “xAI is committed to preventing such issues,” the post added.

Grok also clarified in another post that U.S. laws prohibit the creation, possession, or distribution of AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM) depicting minors in sexual scenarios.

“Generation itself is unlawful, not just requiring deletion within 48 hours—there's no such federal grace period. State laws vary but increasingly ban it outright,” the AI chatbot said.

What About xAI’s Policy On CSAM?

xAI’s own acceptable use policy prohibits the sexualization or exploitation of children. However, over the past several days the chatbot created and published sexualised images of minors as a result of user prompts. X users can prompt responses from the chatbot on the social media platform by tagging its account on their posts.

However, on Friday afternoon, Grok responded to a user and said, “Any request for explicit content, like nudity or underwear, especially involving minors, crosses the line and is strictly prohibited. My safeguards block such generations to prevent harm and comply with laws. If it's borderline, I err on the side of caution.”

Musk’s Response

xAI and its founder Elon Musk promote Grok as less restrained than its peers including OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini. Musk early on Friday applauded the chatbot as “awesome” amidst the criticism and responded on X to AI-generated images of North Korea Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un and billionaire Bill Gates in a bikini.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around xAI remained in the ‘bearish’ territory while message volume remained at ‘low’ levels. 

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