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Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok is being investigated by multiple governments around the world for its production of nonconsensual sexualized images, including photos of children. But despite the global uproar, senior Republicans have not commented on the issue—despite Musk’s role as a major donor to the GOP.
On Tuesday, the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology Liz Kendall called on X, which is also owned by Musk, to address the circulation of the images, describing them as “absolutely appalling.”
“We cannot and will not allow the proliferation of these degrading images,” she added.
X responded to Kendall with a statement: “We take action against illegal content on X, including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary.”
Musk himself has promoted Grok’s ability to manipulate photos into lewd images, including one of Musk wearing a bikini.
On Monday, UK communications regulator Ofcom announced that it made “urgent contact” with X over “serious concerns” that Grok is being used to generate “undressed images of people and sexualized images of children.”
That same day, Germany’s Commissioner for Culture and the Media Wolfram Weimer called on the European Commission to take legal action against X, calling the image generation the “industrialization of sexual harassment.”
India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has also issued a formal notice to X to take down the content.
Meanwhile, European Parliament member Billy Kelleher, who represents Ireland, criticized President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance for supporting Musk’s platform as it produces these images.
Conservative influencer Ashley St. Clair, who is the mother to one of Musk’s children, has been a target of Grok-powered sexual harassment. St. Clair told The Washington Post that, in one of the images that has been manipulated to sexualize her, she was 14 years old at the time.
“This needs to stop, and there needs to be regulation around it immediately. And the regulation should not be crafted by Elon at a Mar-a-Lago table,” she told the outlet.
St. Clair also said that she’s considering suing X.
Grok was previously in the news for powering Grokipedia, Musk’s ripoff of Wikipedia that includes misinformation and white supremacist conspiracies. Grok also previously declared itself “MechaHitler” and promoted antisemitism.
So far, there has been nothing but silence from Trump and congressional leaders like Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune on the Grok controversy. Their silence is especially noteworthy because Musk, the richest man in the world, is the highest-profile donor to the GOP.
Musk spent millions to elect Trump in 2024 and has already committed funds to electing Republicans in this year’s midterms.
Despite the GOP’s history of weakness on pedophilia, the party has claimed that it’s concerned with protecting women and children—unless Musk is involved.
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