Wednesday 14 January 2026 21:16 EST Bookmark The California investigation, announced by state Attorney General Rob Bonta on Wednesday, follows worldwide consternation over the alleged Grok phenomenon, which has led countries like Malaysia and Indonesia to block the chatbot in recent days, while others like the UK have launched investigations. open image in gallery Elon Musk’s Grok AI chatbot is facing worldwide scrutiny over allegations it has generated masses of nonconsensual explicit images of real people as well as created sexualized images of children (AFP/Getty) “The avalanche of reports detailing the non-consensual, sexually explicit material that xAI has produced and posted online in recent weeks is shocking,” Bonta said in a statement. “This material, which depicts women and children in nude and sexually explicit situations, has been used to harass people across the internet. I urge xAI to take immediate action to ensure this goes no further.” Bonta pointed to a Reuters investigation into examples of nonconsensual explicit images being generated across X, where Grok is embedded, as well as the chatbot creating sexualized images of children. The Paris-based non-profit AI Forensics recently made similar findings, concluding that more than half of all AI-generated images on X are of adults and children with their clothes digitally removed. “Our analysis of tens of thousands of images generated by Grok quantifies the extent of the abuse,” Paul Bouchaud, a researcher at AI Forensics, said in a statement shared with The Independent. “Non-consensual sexual imagery of women, sometimes appearing very young, is widespread rather than exceptional, alongside other prohibited content such as Isis and Nazi propaganda – all demonstrating a lack of meaningful safety mechanisms.” The concerns come as AI chatbots grow increasingly prevalent across daily life and major institutions. This week, the Pentagon announced plans to integrate Grok into its workflows. open image in gallery