A new risk assessment has raised serious concerns about xAI’s chatbot Grok, finding that it lacks reliable safeguards to identify users under 18, has weak safety controls, and frequently generates sexual, violent, and inappropriate content. In short, the report concludes that Grok is not safe for children or teens. The damning findings come from Common Sense Media, a nonprofit known for age-based ratings and reviews of media and technology for families, and they arrive amid ongoing criticism and an investigation into how Grok was used to create and spread nonconsensual explicit AI-generated images of women and children on the X platform.
Robbie Torney, head of AI and digital assessments at Common Sense Media, described Grok as one of the worst chatbots they have evaluated. He acknowledged that all AI chatbots carry risks, but said Grok’s failures intersect in a particularly troubling way. “Kids Mode doesn’t work, explicit material is pervasive, [and] everything can be instantly shared to millions of users on X,” Torney said. He also criticized xAI for placing a paywall on features that enabled illegal child sexual abuse material, arguing that this is not an oversight but a business model that prioritizes profit over children’s safety.
Following public outrage from users, policymakers, and several countries, xAI limited Grok’s image generation and editing features to paying X subscribers. However, reports indicate that many users could still access these tools with free accounts, and paid subscribers were still able to edit real photos to remove clothing or place subjects in sexualized positions. These findings highlight the ongoing gaps in content moderation and enforcement, even after the company attempted to tighten controls.
Common Sense Media conducted its testing across Grok’s mobile app, website, and @grok account on X, using teen test accounts between November and January 22. The assessment evaluated text, voice, default settings, Kids Mode, Conspiracy Mode, and image and video generation features. xAI launched Grok’s image generator, Grok Imagine, in August, introducing a “spicy mode” for NSFW content, and later introduced AI companions Ani and Rudy in July. The report underscores a broader issue facing AI chatbots today: without strong, enforceable safety measures, these tools can become harmful, especially for younger users.