‘Grok makes AI child porn’: Why activists brought giant Elon Musk balloon to Times Square

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😖 A giant inflatable Elon Musk popped up in Times Square as part of a protest against Musk’s Grok AI. pic.twitter.com/BdLOB900iC

— TMZ (@TMZ) June 11, 2026

SpaceX, valued at $1.77 trillion, is preparing for what has been described as the largest IPO in US history. Reuters reported that the company priced its shares at $135 apiece, raising an estimated $75 billion and bringing Musk a step closer to becoming the world’s first trillionaire.

Why was the protest held?

The demonstration was organised by Safe AI Now (SAIN), a consulting and training firm founded in 2022. Protesters gathered outside the Nasdaq exchange and the offices of JPMorgan, one of the banks involved in the offering, in an apparent attempt to draw investors’ attention to concerns over AI safety.

At the centre of those concerns is Grok, xAI’s chatbot and image-generation tool. According to WIRED, protesters at the scene declined to speak publicly. However, a representative for SAIN told the publication that investors risked overlooking broader questions of accountability amid the excitement surrounding the IPO.

“It’s really easy to get distracted by the shiny IPO news. And I think that’s what they’re kind of hoping will happen,” the representative told WIRED. “But there’s real harm, real risk. I think if we are normalising it everywhere—from the banks that are underwriting it, to the NASDAQ that’s listing it, to the shareholders who are buying into it—a company that has this really toxic platform in Grok, normalising that type of explicit imagery, there’s a real problem.”

What are the concerns surrounding Grok?  

The protest stems from wider concerns over Grok’s image-generation capabilities. According to earlier reporting by WIRED, researchers estimated that Grok’s tools had been used to generate millions of sexualised images, including images depicting apparent minors, after users exploited gaps in the platform’s safeguards to manipulate photographs of real people.

Activists put 40‑ft inflatable topless Elon Musk in Times Square

The balloon shows Musk shirtless with ‘SpaceX’s Grok Makes AI Child Porn’ on his torso and ‘Ketamine’ on a heart tattoo — the work of activist group Safe AI Now pic.twitter.com/2wSSuTeyL9

— RT (@RT_com) June 12, 2026

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The demonstration also comes amid increasing scrutiny of the chatbot’s safety measures. Reuters reported this week that Canada’s privacy commissioner found Grok’s image-generation feature had violated federal privacy law after launching without adequate protections against the creation and circulation of non-consensual sexualised deepfakes. The report added that xAI subsequently introduced restrictions on the tool.

Separately, TechCrunch, citing an assessment by Common Sense Media earlier this year, reported that the US-based non-profit had described Grok’s child-safety protections as “among the worst we’ve seen” among mainstream AI chatbots, citing the ease with which younger users could encounter explicit material.

Neither SpaceX nor xAI immediately responded publicly to the Times Square protest.

SpaceX’s blockbuster IPO

The protest unfolded against the backdrop of SpaceX’s soaring ambitions and equally high investor expectations. In its IPO filings, the company outlined plans spanning satellite expansion, advances in artificial intelligence and long-term goals tied to human settlement beyond Earth.

For SpaceX, the listing represents another milestone in Musk’s sprawling business empire. But the giant inflatable effigy in Times Square served as a reminder that as AI tools become more powerful — and more pervasive — questions around accountability and safeguards are unlikely to remain on the sidelines for long.