California Attorney General Rob Bonta sent a cease and desist letter to xAI, demanding the company immediately stop the creation and distribution of deepfake, nonconsensual intimate images and child
In-house legal teams should review all agreements where xAI provides AI services (e.g., customer terms for Grok, vendor agreements for training data or platform integrations, and data processing addendums). Focus on clauses governing content generation, user consent, acceptable use, content moderation, and liability for illegal outputs. Specific clauses to audit include those prohibiting the creation of nonconsensual intimate imagery and CSAM, requirements for user consent before generating synthetic media of individuals (especially minors), and obligations to implement technical safeguards against misuse. Contracts may need amendments to explicitly ban deepfake/CSAM generation, mandate robust detection/reporting tools, require cooperation with law enforcement, and incorporate California's specific prohibitions under Penal Code §311 and related civil statutes. Ensure indemnification and termination rights adequately cover violations involving illegal AI-generated content.
Entity
xAI
Industry
TechnologyA bipartisan coalition of 35 state attorneys general led by New York Attorney General Letitia James sent a demand letter to xAI on January 26, 2026, requiring the company to address its Grok chatbot’s creation and sharing of nonconsensual intimate images, including child sexual abuse material. The AGs demand that xAI implement safeguards to prevent Grok from generating such content, delete existing harmful content, suspend offending users, and give X users control over whether their content can be edited by Grok. No monetary penalty has been imposed as this is a pre-enforcement demand for action.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced an investigation into xAI for its Grok AI model generating nonconsensual sexual images of women and children, including child sexual abuse material. The AG expressed deep concern and zero tolerance, urging immediate action to prevent further
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, joined by attorneys general from seven other states, filed a lawsuit to block the $6.2 billion merger between Nexstar Media Group and Tegna Inc. The lawsuit alleges the merger violates Section 7 of the Clayton Act by reducing competition in local TV markets, leading to higher prices, less local news, and job losses.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education to block the expansion of IPEDS data collection requiring colleges to submit race-linked student data. The lawsuit argues the demand is arbitrary, capricious, and burdensome, and could enable costly partisan investigations. A multistate coalition co-led the challenge.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and a coalition of state attorneys general announced they will continue their antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation/Ticketmaster after the U.S. Department of Justice settled the case. The states aim to hold Live Nation accountable for anticompetitive conduct that harms consumers, artists, and venues in the live music industry.
$376K
The California Privacy Protection Agency (CalPrivacy) settled with Ford Motor Company requiring the company to pay a $375,703 fine and change its practices. Ford violated the CCPA by requiring consumers to complete an email verification step before they could opt-out of the sale and sharing of their personal information collected through digital properties and connected vehicle services. In addition to the fine, Ford must provide easy methods to submit opt-out requests with minimal steps, audit its tracking technologies, and ensure compliance with opt-out preference signals including Global Privacy Control.