All articles tagged with #xai
A Wyoming woman (Jane Doe 4) has joined a class-action accusing xAI’s Grok AI of generating thousands of sexually explicit images of her from childhood photos, including one based on an 11-year-old photo; the development expands a case already targeting Grok amid ongoing CSAM investigations by California authorities and the EU.
Jane Doe 4 says Grok, the AI chatbot from xAI, used to create and distribute more than 7,000 fake explicit images of her from a childhood photo, prompting an expanded federal lawsuit against xAI that also names other AI image tools; the case highlights how AI-enabled nonconsensual sexual imagery can be produced, the challenges for reporting and safety oversight, and ongoing legal uncertainties surrounding AI-generated content.
Nvidia disclosed roughly a $21 billion stake in SpaceX after its $10 billion investment in xAI was folded into SpaceX via an all‑stock deal, with Musk confirming SpaceX will run its AI data centers on Nvidia’s Vera Rubin GPUs. The move creates a circular investment: Nvidia funds a key customer, that customer then buys Nvidia chips, boosting Nvidia’s equity stake as SpaceX grows. SpaceX and Intel together account for about 80% of Nvidia’s disclosed stock portfolio, giving Nvidia shareholders exposure to SpaceX’s rocket and Starlink ventures alongside its core chip business.
Nvidia said its SpaceX stake, gained via its investment in xAI, was about $21 billion at the end of Q2 based on 122.8 million SpaceX Class A shares; SpaceX recently IPOed and has seen volatility, with Nvidia’s stake now valued around $17.2 billion after a price drop from the end-June level. The holding is Nvidia’s second-largest behind Intel, and Musk has said SpaceX will exclusively use Nvidia AI chips in its data centers, with a sizable Vera Rubin GPU allocation expected next year.
Tony Wu, co‑founder of xAI and Grok, is linked to a record $70 million Hillsborough estate—the Bay Area’s biggest home sale—featuring a lakeside Italian‑villa style design, a 12,000 sq ft main house, a 4,600 sq ft guest house, and a sports complex. The property sold to Daikon no Hana Capital LLC, with Wu’s ties to OpenAI/DeepMind and SpaceX’s xAI highlighted as evidence of AI‑driven wealth reshaping Northern California luxury real estate.
Techdirt notes SpaceX’s 10-Q shows X’s ad revenue collapsed after Musk’s Twitter takeover: ad revenue dropped from about $1.08B in Q2 2022 to $367M in Q2 2026, with 2025 ad revenue around $870M and first-half 2026 around $710M, effectively wiping out roughly two-thirds of the pre-takeover ad business. The company attributes the dip to a transition to a new ad platform, while critics say the overhaul hurts revenue and highlights the gap between Musk’s promises (e.g., $12B in ad revenue by 2027) and reality. Overall, the piece argues that Musk’s track record on delivering revenue growth remains questionable.
SpaceX's Terafab mega-chip factory in Grimes County, Texas will be powered by newly built natural gas plants and large battery arrays, with no Tesla solar in the plan despite Tesla’s partnership; the site sits on a former coal plant and aims to churn out over a terawatt of compute annually for SpaceX and xAI, plus future chips for Tesla, marking a gas-first approach for AI data centers amid debates over solar power and reliability.
SpaceX’s earnings show the company is now mainly an AI data-center and telecom business (Starlink and Grok/xAI) rather than a rocket company, with rocket revenue a small fraction; ambitious space-data-center plans are expensive and speculative, even as projections of $100B ARR loom.
Minnesota’s Nudification Ban took effect Saturday, letting victims sue app providers and imposing fines up to $500,000 per generation or per access for nudification—defined as non-artistic alterations of a recognizable person’s image that expose intimate parts. xAI sought a temporary restraining order to block enforcement, but District Judge Donovan Frank denied the request, keeping the law in place. Critics argue the statute’s breadth could sweep in AI-generated images, while supporters say it protects people from exploited imagery. The Grok chatbot’s prior role in creating sexualized images contributed to the push for the law; xAI says it has since curtailed those capabilities and maintains a zero-tolerance stance on exploitation.
Minnesota’s first-in-the-nation ban on AI ‘nudification’ took effect Aug. 1 after a federal judge denied xAI’s emergency bid to pause the law; xAI continues its First Amendment challenge with a July 31 order and an Aug. 19 hearing for a preliminary injunction. The law prohibits nudifying images or advertising such services, imposes civil penalties up to $500,000 per violation plus a private right of action, and provides exemptions for tools requiring the user’s technical skill, with penalties directed to survivor-support grants.
A federal judge declined to block Minnesota’s new law banning apps and websites that generate nonconsensual intimate imagery, allowing the measure to take effect. xAI’s broader lawsuit continues, with a hearing set for August 19 to decide if a preliminary injunction should be issued. The law also allows fines of up to $500,000 for each user-generated nonconsensual image, and defines “nudified” content as altered material that could be mistaken for the real person.
SpaceX and its xAI unit agreed with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality to remove all 69 temporary mobile gas turbines powering the Colossus data-center site by July 2027, with removal to begin as soon as August as a permanent 1.2 GW natural-gas plant comes online; the arrangement follows a lawsuit by the NAACP and Southern Environmental Law Center alleging operation without a permit, a claim the DOJ has supported xAI on. SpaceX uses Colossus for Grok model training and has leased capacity to other AI firms like Anthropic, while signaling a multi‑billion-dollar turbine purchase and a massive AI total addressable market as part of its SpaceX–xAI strategy.
A federal judge denied Elon Musk’s xAI request to block Minnesota’s new nudification ban, saying the law poses no immediate harm and will take effect as scheduled; a hearing on whether to grant a preliminary injunction is set for Aug. 19, while xAI argues the measure is overbroad and unnecessary given existing safeguards.
Elon Musk’s xAI filed a federal lawsuit in Minnesota challenging the state’s first-in-the-nation ban on AI-generated nude images of real people, arguing the law is overbroad and would penalize makers of AI tools; Minnesota defends the rule as necessary to protect consent and dignity, and the case tests how far states can regulate AI technology like Grok.
xAI has sued Minnesota over HF 1606, a new law aimed at nudification tech that could restrict Grok Imagine’s image-editing features and impose up to $500,000 per violation. The company argues the measure is overbroad and violates the First Amendment, claiming existing federal and state laws already address nonconsensual deepfakes; state officials say the law is needed after a January surge in sexually explicit AI output. The suit was filed just days before the August 1 effective date.