Local Politics · New York, NY
NYC Council Speaker Shows Grok Generated Sexualized Image in Under 30 Seconds at AI Hearing
City Council Speaker Julie Menin demonstrated during a Friday hearing that xAI's chatbot Grok produced a sexualized image of her in under 30 seconds using the free version, moments after SpaceXAI senior manager Gabriela Castillo Madrid testified the platform has "strict controls" preventing such content. The hearing marked SpaceXAI's first appearance before the Council after skipping an Oct. 5 AI safety hearing despite a subpoena. Former xAI employee Devin Kim, who is suing the company for retaliation, testified that during his tenure only three employees worked on AI safety while hundreds developed models, and alleged he was fired in September 2025 after raising concerns about bio-risk safeguards. The Council is weighing bills to let elected officials bar AI systems from generating manipulated images of their likeness and to allow lawsuits over foreseeable harms from third-party misuse of AI models.