LANSING — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is signaling that she may pursue legal action against Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, over concerns tied to Grok, an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Musk’s company xAI.
Nessel’s warning centers on Grok, which operates on X, formerly Twitter, and through a standalone service. After a December update that reduced guardrails, users were able to manipulate images posted by others, leading to the creation of thousands of non-consensual sexualized images. According to Nessel, many of those images involved women, with some depicting minors.
In an interview with News Channel 3, Nessel argued that the feature goes beyond simple user misuse and may violate existing state and federal laws, including statutes governing child sexual abuse material.
“I think we’re going to have to do the same thing with social media platforms that enable the violation of really important laws that we have on the books so that people aren’t exploited in the way they are right now,” Nessel said.
She added that if the feature remains active, states or the federal government could bring lawsuits against X or xAI, claiming Musk and his companies have the ability to disable the tool but are choosing not to because it is financially beneficial.
The controversial feature, sometimes referred to as a “spicy mode,” was recently limited to paid users on X. Nessel says that step does not go far enough, arguing the tool should be disabled entirely.
“If Elon Musk won’t do this on his own, I think that the states and the federal government should force him to do it,” she said.
Musk has publicly defended Grok, pushing back on claims that the platform itself generates illegal content. He has argued that the chatbot responds to user prompts and refuses illegal requests by default, and that blaming the tool amounts to censorship. He has not directly responded to Nessel’s warning about potential enforcement.
Michigan criminal defense attorney Michael Hills told News Channel 3 that while Michigan’s August 2025 deepfake statute provides protections for victims, it remains unclear whether a platform or toolmaker like xAI could face criminal liability. He noted that individuals who create or distribute illegal deepfake sexual images can already be charged, but criminal cases against companies face a much higher bar. Civil lawsuits, particularly claims involving emotional distress, may be more realistic.
Nessel has compared the situation to Backpage, the classified advertising platform shut down by federal authorities in 2018 after repeated warnings that it was facilitating illegal activity.
“This is a feature, not a bug,” Nessel said of Grok’s image manipulation capabilities.
The broader question, however, is whether it is wise for Michigan to spend taxpayer dollars on another high-profile lawsuit with uncertain odds. Nessel has previously taken on large national fights, often with political appeal, but not always with clear or direct benefits for Michigan residents.
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