Technology

Musk says Grok needs moral constitution amid global deepfake backlash

Monday 19 - 14:25

By: Dakir Madiha

Musk says Grok needs moral constitution amid global deepfake backlash

Elon Musk's xAI faces intense worldwide scrutiny as its AI chatbot Grok triggers investigations, bans, and lawsuits across multiple countries for producing non-consensual sexualized images of women and children. This crisis prompted Musk to admit Grok requires a "moral constitution," coming after weeks of mounting pressure from regulators, governments, and victims.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta sent a cease-and-desist letter to xAI on January 15, demanding the company immediately stop creating and distributing deepfakes, non-consensual intimate images, and child sexual abuse material. "The avalanche of reports detailing this content sometimes showing women and children in sexual acts is shocking and, as my office has determined, potentially illegal," Bonta stated in a release. His office launched a formal probe earlier that week, probing whether xAI violates state law.

Regulatory crackdowns have gone global. Malaysia and Indonesia became the first nations to temporarily ban Grok in early January, citing "repeated misuse" for generating obscene, non-consensual images. Britain's Ofcom opened a formal inquiry on January 12, warning X could face fines up to 10% of global revenue or £18 million for failing to protect users from illegal content. The Philippines blocked Grok access on January 15, with authorities demanding the platform "remove this app's ability to generate pornographic content, especially child pornography."

Further probes launched in France, India, Canada, and by the European Commission under its Digital Services Act. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned the technology, saying: "I am appalled that a tech platform allows users to digitally undress women and children online."

Ashley St. Clair, a 27-year-old conservative influencer and mother of one of Musk's children, filed suit against xAI on January 15 in New York State Supreme Court. The complaint alleges Grok generated "countless sexually abusive, intimate, and degrading deepfake contents" about her, including one altered from a photo taken at age 14 and another showing her in a bikini covered in swastikas.

Her attorney Carrie Goldberg said the lawsuit aims "to hold Grok accountable and help establish clear legal boundaries for the public's benefit to prevent AI from being weaponized for abuse." xAI countersued in Texas federal court, claiming St. Clair breached terms by not filing there and seeking over $75,000 in damages. The company's terse media reply: "Legacy Media Lies."

On January 15, xAI announced restrictions blocking Grok from altering real people's images into revealing attire and limiting image generation to paid subscribers. Yet The Guardian reported journalists still created short videos of women undressing via Grok's standalone website days later. Media tests showed safeguards bypassed in under a minute.

On January 18, Musk posted on X that "Grok should have a moral constitution," sparking debate over who defines such ethics. Critics called issues predictable; The Verge argued the crisis stemmed from Musk's "fear of missing the AI train and hatred of political correctness," noting Grok had mere months of training and two months of testing pre-launch.

Musk insisted he was "unaware of nude images of minors generated by Grok," blaming users circumventing censorship rather than systemic flaws. But as investigators gather evidence across jurisdictions, xAI confronts not if these systems cause harm, but how quickly it can prove large-scale prevention.