Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company is facing international condemnation after it debuted a “spicy mode” last week for its AI chatbot, Grok. The feature allows users to digitally remove clothing from images and has been deployed to produce what amounts to child pornography — along with other disturbing behavior, such as sexualizing the deputy prime minister of Sweden.
A spokesperson for the European Commission condemned the company, xAI, for the widely publicized controversy.
“We are aware of the fact that X or Grok is now offering a ‘spicy mode’ showing explicit sexual content with some output generated with childlike images,” the spokesperson, Thomas Regnier, said Monday, according to Bloomberg. “This is not spicy — this is illegal.”
Officials in France and Malaysia have launched inquiries into the platform, and the European Commission said Monday that it was “seriously looking into the matter,” the BBC reported. And on Friday, India’s tech regulators issued a 72-hour notice to Musk’s X that requires the company to show that it has taken steps to prevent the distribution of content that is “obscene, pornographic, vulgar, indecent, sexually explicit, pedophilic, or otherwise prohibited under law.”
Responding on Sunday to a social media user’s post about the backlash, Musk appeared to put the onus on users, writing: “Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.”
In response to MS NOW’s request for comment, a spokesperson for X shared a post from the company that said in part: “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.”
International regulators seem undeterred by recent efforts by Musk and the Trump administration to shape foreign governments’ technology rules. The administration recently threatened the European Union over its efforts to regulate AI companies — including Musk’s — and at home it has sought to block states from AI regulation. The Grok situation follows a string of other controversies. The chatbot has generated responses fantasizing about rape, promoting explicit bigotry and engaging in disturbingly flirty conversations via AI “companions.” And this comes as Musk is looking to entice governments around the world rokto engage with Grok. I recently wrote about Musk’s newly announced partnership with El Salvador’s dictatorial regime to use Grok to “tutor” millions of Salvadoran children. And last fall, the U.S. General Services Administration announced a deal to make Grok available to employees at all federal agencies. One would hope the feds get the AI porn thing worked out before the mass uptake truly begins.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog. 
