ND AG Wrigley joins 34 states demanding action on AI deepfakes

FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) – North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley is among 35 state attorneys general demanding Elon Musk’s xAI company take immediate action to stop its Grok chatbot from creating nonconsensual sexual images of real people, including children.

In a letter sent to xAI on January 23, the coalition expressed “deep concern” about artificial intelligence-produced deepfake nonconsensual intimate images created through Grok, which is integrated with the X social media platform.

“Grok merits special attention given evidence that it both promoted and facilitated the production and public dissemination of such images, and made it all as easy as the click of a button,” the attorneys general wrote.

The attorneys general acknowledge xAI has taken some steps to address the issue, including implementing technical measures and meeting with state officials. However, they say those efforts “may not have completely solved the issues.”

Scale of the Problem

The letter cites multiple analyses documenting Grok’s image generation capabilities.

According to the attorneys general, one analysis found that over half of 20,000 images generated by Grok between Christmas and New Year’s depicted subjects, even those appearing to be children, in minimal attire.

Another analysis cited in the letter determined that Grok was producing vastly more nonconsensual intimate images than the most popular “nudifying” websites.

‘Feature, Not a Bug’

The attorneys general argue xAI purposefully designed Grok to generate explicit content, developing a “spicy mode” and marketing these capabilities as selling points.

“The ability to create nonconsensual intimate images appeared to be a feature, not a bug,” they wrote.

According to the letter, Grok allowed users to alter innocuous images of women without their knowledge or consent, depicting them in sexually explicit scenarios. Most alarmingly, the attorneys general claim the tool altered images of children to depict them in minimal clothing and sexual situations.

Legal Concerns

The creation and dissemination of child sexual abuse material is a crime. Various state and federal civil and criminal laws also forbid the creation of nonconsensual intimate images.

The coalition is calling on xAI to:

• Ensure Grok can no longer produce nonconsensual intimate images
• Eliminate content already produced
• Suspend users who created these materials
• Report creators to relevant authorities
• Give X users control over whether their content can be edited by Grok
• Ensure safeguards don’t merely place harmful content behind a paywall

The attorneys general noted xAI’s unique position connecting AI tools directly to a social media platform with hundreds of millions of users makes its actions “of utmost importance.”

“The steps you take to prevent and remove NCII will establish industry benchmarks to protect adults and children against harmful deepfake nonconsensual intimate images,” they wrote.

The bipartisan coalition includes attorneys general from Connecticut, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming, as well as American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Copyright 2026 KVLY. All rights reserved.