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Elon Musk’s xAI under fire as Grok chatbot linked to sexually explicit requests, including CSAM
In certain instances, staff said Grok had actually generated CSAM in response.
In certain instances, staff said Grok had actually generated CSAM in response.
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence venture, xAI, is facing serious allegations that its Grok chatbot has been prompted to generate sexually explicit material, including child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
According to a Business Insider investigation, more than a dozen current and former employees claimed they encountered highly explicit requests while working on Grok’s training. Some users allegedly asked the chatbot to create pornographic images of children or to write stories involving minors in sexual situations. In certain instances, staff said Grok had actually generated CSAM in response.
Experts note that while sexual content appears across many tech platforms, xAI’s approach makes it particularly vulnerable. Grok has been marketed with so-called “spicy” image and video generation settings, as well as “sexy” and “unhinged” modes — features that critics argue complicate efforts to block harmful material. Rival firms such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta, by contrast, prohibit sexual requests outright.
Employees told Business Insider they had been instructed to flag CSAM or other illegal content using an internal system so it could be quarantined and prevented from influencing future training data. More recently, they were also required to report such cases directly to managers.
At least 12 employees confirmed they had encountered explicit or illegal material while annotating content. Many said they had signed agreements acknowledging potential exposure to sensitive or disturbing content, covering both adult-oriented projects and more general annotation tasks, since explicit requests could surface unpredictably.
The revelations sit uncomfortably alongside Musk’s public stance. The billionaire has repeatedly insisted that removing child sexual exploitation material is his “priority #1” when addressing safety on his social media platform, X.
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