The Verge56%

xAI sues a man for using Grok to generate CSAM ‘deepfakes’ 19%

By Emma Roth45%

7/15/2026, 9:33:20 PM

BS Summary: This article contains 21 faulty reasoning types, including Unattributed Quote, Biased Writer Voice, and Quote-first Misdirection, with Confirmation Bias as the most egregious example at 40.6% saturation with 114 hits. Analysis detected 994 faulty-reasoning hits from 281 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 33.7% and a BS Rank of 19% (13,192 of 16,189 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 81.50% of the article peer group.

The Elon Musk-owned xAI is suing a South Carolina man who allegedly used the company’s Grok AI chatbot to generate child sexual abuse material (CSAM). 
In a lawsuit reported earlier by Reuters, xAI claims Terry Wayne Harwood “knowingly and intentionally used Grok to circumvent safeguards, alter nonconsensual images, and generate and distribute CSAM,” breaching the company’s policies. 
Harwood was arrested in February for allegedly possessing and distributing CSAM and is facing eight felony charges. 
The lawsuit claims “at least some” of the images related to Harwood’s criminal charges “were generated or altered” with Grok, and that Harwood bypassed Grok’s safeguards and “abused the tool to convert non-sexual photographs into sexually explicit images” without the subjects’ consent. 
After rolling out a “spicy” mode for Grok last year, xAI added the ability to edit images with the chatbot, leading to a flood of sexualized AI deepfakes, including ones with minors. 
A group of teens sued xAI in March over claims Grok generated sexualized images of themselves as minors. 
Musk responded by saying, “Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content,” though this appears to be the first time xAI has sued anyone over AI deepfakes created with Grok. 
xAI claims Harwood’s alleged actions exposed the company to “significant legal risk and reputational damage.” 
It has asked the court to order Harwood to pay xAI for any damages, as well as “reasonable expenses incurred defending itself in any legal action filed by a victim of Defendant’s conduct.” xAI also wants the judge to block Harwood from creating an xAI account or using Grok. 
Confirmation Bias
40.6%
Anchoring Bias
0%
Availability Heuristic
20.3%
Representativeness Heuristic
0%
Hindsight Bias
0%
Overconfidence Bias
0%
Framing Effect
3.9%
Loss Aversion
17.4%
Status Quo Bias
0%
Sunk Cost Effect
0%
Optimism Bias
0%
Pessimism Bias
14.2%
Negativity Bias
21.4%
Self-Serving Bias
5.3%
Fundamental Attribution Error
0%
Actor-Observer Bias
11.4%
In-Group Bias
0%
Out-Group Homogeneity Bias
0%
Halo Effect
0%
Horn Effect
0%
Dunning-Kruger Effect
0%
Recency Bias
6.4%
Primacy Effect
0%
Blind-Spot Bias
0%
Ad Hominem
0%
Straw Man
0%
Appeal to Authority
0%
False Dilemma
0%
Slippery Slope
11.4%
Circular Reasoning
0%
Hasty Generalization
11.4%
Red Herring
0%
Bandwagon
0%
Appeal to Emotion
14.2%
Begging the Question
0%
Post Hoc (False Cause)
11.4%
Tu Quoque
0%
Burden of Proof
23.5%
Appeal to Nature
0%
Composition/Division
0%
Anecdotal
6.4%
No True Scotsman
0%
Ambiguity (Equivocation)
14.9%
Gambler’s Fallacy
0%
Middle Ground
0%
Personal Incredulity
0%
Special Pleading
14.2%
Genetic Fallacy
0%
Unattributed Quote
40.6%
Quote-first Misdirection
25.6%
Biased Writer Voice
30.2%
Indoctrination
8.9%
Politically Left Leaning Bias
0%
Politically Right Leaning Bias
0%
Attempt to Sell a Product or Service
0%

281 words analyzed.

Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.