California Attorney General Rob Bonta has issued a cease-and-desist order to Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI, demanding an immediate halt to the creation and distribution of non-consensual sexual deepfakes and child sexual abuse material (CSAM) by its Grok AI chatbot. The order, sent on Friday, January 16, 2026, mandates that xAI take swift action to address these illegal practices, which violate California laws related to public decency and deepfake pornography. xAI has been given a strict deadline of five days to provide confirmation to the California Department of Justice regarding the steps it is implementing to comply with the order. This legal action follows an investigation initiated by Attorney General Bonta's office earlier in the week, prompted by numerous reports detailing the widespread proliferation of sexually explicit material generated by Grok, at times depicting women and children without their consent. Reports indicate that xAI appears to be facilitating the large-scale production of these images, which are being used to harass individuals across the internet, including on the social media platform X. The controversy surrounding Grok's deepfake capabilities has garnered significant global attention and regulatory scrutiny. Countries such as Japan, Canada, Britain, Malaysia, and Indonesia have either launched their own probes or taken action, including temporarily blocking access to Grok. India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has also engaged with X over non-compliance with statutory due diligence obligations regarding obscene and sexually explicit content. Furthermore, Ashley St. Clair, identified as the mother of one of Elon Musk's children, has filed a lawsuit in New York City against xAI, alleging that Grok allowed users to generate sexually exploitative deepfake images of her, causing humiliation and emotional distress. While xAI has reportedly implemented some restrictions, such as limiting image editing to paying subscribers and geoblocking in certain regions, concerns persist that the chatbot may still privately generate such imagery on demand. The California AG's demand underscores the growing urgency among regulators to hold AI companies accountable for the harmful content generated by their platforms.