Senator Elizabeth Warren has had none of it and has publicly blasted the Pentagon’s decision to give xAI, Elon Musk’s company, access to classified networks. She’s especially concerned about the future for Grok, their chatbot. This decision comes under scrutiny as a coalition of nonprofits urged the government to suspend Grok’s deployment in federal agencies, citing its troubling capability to generate sexualized images of women and children without consent.
The request for suspension rests on these troubling reports. Users on the xAI platform have encouraged Grok to create sexualized images. As you might imagine, these actions have advocacy groups up in arms. They contend that deploying this technology in government poses an unacceptable risk to ethics and national security.
Warren’s letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth highlights her worries about how Grok’s access could potentially compromise classified information. In her communication, she demanded transparency on how the Department of Defense (DoD) plans to mitigate risks associated with this AI model, particularly concerning cybersecurity.
“Grok, the controversial AI model developed by xAI, has provided disturbing outputs for users, including giving users ‘advice on how to commit murders and terrorist attacks,’ generating antisemitic content, and creating child sexual abuse material,” – Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
The senator further raised doubts about whether xAI has provided sufficient information on Grok’s security protocols and data collection and usage policies. She emphasized the need for assurance that Grok would “not leak sensitive or classified military information.”
Aside from these worries, a class-action lawsuit has been filed against xAI. It alleges that Grok used AI to produce sexualized images of the plaintiffs using their actual images as minors. This lawsuit makes matters even worse, introducing legal consequences to the ethical conundrums they’ve already posed.
Warren’s inquiries extend to understanding the contractual agreement between the DoD and xAI concerning Grok’s use in classified systems. When she asked for a copy of the deal, she also asked for further information on how the DoD intends to protect Grok from cyberattacks.
“It is unclear what assurances or documentation xAI has provided to the Department of Defense about Grok’s security safeguards, data-handling practices, or safety controls, and whether DoD has evaluated those assurances before reportedly allowing Grok access to classified systems,” – Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
The ramifications of deploying such technology within the federal government are unsettling and present a variety of questions. Warren warned of “serious risks to the safety of U.S. military personnel and to the cybersecurity of classified systems,” urging the DoD to reconsider its approach.
Rebecca Bellan is a transportation senior reporter at TechCrunch. She regularly writes about the business, policy and emerging trends in AI and is open to additional commentary. She can be reached on email at rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com and via a secure message on Signal at rebeccabellan.491.