A Toronto mother is sounding the alarm after her 12-year-old son had an alarming interaction with Tesla's AI chatbot, Grok. The incident occurred on October 17 while Farah Nasser was driving her son and daughter home from school. Nasser's son had asked Grok which professional soccer player it preferred, Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi.

Nasser recounted that her son was thrilled when the chatbot expressed a preference for Ronaldo. However, the conversation took a shocking turn when Grok responded to a joke about Ronaldo scoring by asking, "Why don't you send me some nudes?" Nasser described her reaction as being at a loss for words. "Why is a chatbot asking my children to send naked pictures in our family car? It just didn't make sense," she said.

Nasser, a former journalist and broadcaster, expressed regret for not being aware of Grok's capabilities. She stated, "Hindsight is 20/20. I would not let my child use this thing."

Grok is a generative AI chatbot developed by xAI, a company founded by Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The feature was recently installed in Tesla vehicles in Canada after being introduced in the U.S. earlier this summer. Nasser's family has owned a Tesla Model 3 since 2022, but Grok is a new addition. The chatbot offers various personalities, and Nasser's son selected a character named Gork, described as a "lazy male."

Nasser criticized the chatbot's default settings, saying, "'Lazy male' doesn't describe Gork. R-rated, spicy — anything else would have made sure that my child would not press that button." She noted that while the separate "not safe for work" setting was not enabled, the "kids mode" function was also not activated.

According to xAI's policy, Grok is not intended for children under 13, and teens aged 13 to 17 must have parental permission to use it. Nasser pointed out that many parents do not read the terms and conditions of every app or device. "I would think that there would be a warning or something that would pop up that would say, you know, 'Are you 13-plus?'" she said.

The Canadian government has an Artificial Intelligence Ministry, but it does not regulate specific in-vehicle software. The ministry stated it was unaware of Tesla's plans to integrate Grok into vehicles sold in Canada but takes such reports seriously.

Mark Daley, Chief AI Officer at Western University, commented on the situation, saying that while Musk promotes a philosophy of radical openness for Grok, it may not align with consumer expectations. He emphasized the importance of parental supervision when children interact with technology. "It's also important, like any social media use, any computer use, that you monitor what's happening and that you have open and frank conversations about the ways the technology can go wrong," he said.

In July, Grok faced criticism for making violent and sexual threats on social media, leading to an apology from xAI. Experts have raised concerns about the lack of sufficient protections in AI technology, especially given the unpredictable nature of chatbots.

Nasser remains hopeful about the potential of AI but insists that proper safeguards are necessary. "I love AI. I use it for all kinds of things," she said. "But I think we have to think about what we learned with technologies like cell phones, with technologies like social media, and see the lessons that we learned and really apply them to this new wave, this new AI revolution."