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Decoder with Nilay Patel

Why nobody's stopping Grok

Decoder with Nilay Patel

Vox Media Podcast Network

Business, Technology

4.23.4K Ratings

🗓️ 22 January 2026

⏱️ 68 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Grok, the chatbot made by Elon Musk’s xAI, is able to make all manner of AI-generated images on demand, including non-consensual intimate images of women and minors. It's the kind of "controversy" that would have completely sunk a platform five or 10 years ago, but now it seems clear that Elon wants Grok to be able to do this. A lot of people feel like someone should be able to do something about a one-click harassment machine like this. But who has that power, and what they can do with it, is a deeply complicated question,tied up in the thorny mess of history that is content moderation and the legal precedents that underpin it. So I invited Riana Pfefferkorn, from the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, to come talk me through it. Links:  Grok’s gross AI deepfakes problem | The Verge Grok is undressing children — can the law stop it? | The Verge Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai are cowards | The Verge Senate passes a bill to let nonconsensual deepfake victims sue | The Verge EU looks to ban nudification apps following Grok outrage | Politico Grok flooded X with millions of sexualized images | The New York Times The Supreme Court just upended internet law | The Verge Mother of Elon Musk’s son sues xAI over sexual deepfake images | AP Subscribe to The Verge to access the ad-free version of Decoder! Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Decoder is produced by Kate Cox and Nick Statt and edited by Ursa Wright. Our editorial director is Kevin McShane.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Olivia Culpo here to tell you all about the launch of the new Abercrombie spring denim collection,

0:05.5

made the way denim should feel. Their denim has always been a staple in my wardrobe and has a wide range of fits,

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styles, and washes. Every jean is available in both their classic fit and viral curve love.

0:17.5

Shop in the app, online, and in stores.

0:30.8

Support for today's show comes from Zoom.

0:33.7

Work moves faster when everything works together.

0:39.2

That means meetings, chats, docs, and AI companion, all supporting each other seamlessly.

0:43.9

Learn more at zoom.com slash podcast and zoom ahead.

0:47.9

This is your latest project.

0:55.0

It's heavy with information, data, and exactly 36 pages of waffle. But with Acrobat Studio, you can create a PDF space, an AI-powered workspace that turns documents

1:01.0

into summaries and insights and even generates reports or presentations out of it.

1:07.0

So you can cut through the waffle, work smarter, and save time.

1:12.5

Do that with Acrobat.

1:15.7

Learn more and try it out on adobe.com.

1:19.3

Hello and welcome to Decoder.

1:23.6

I'm Neely Patel, editor-in-chief of The Verge, and Decoder is my show about big ideas and other problems.

1:24.9

Today's episode is about X, Grock, and Elon Musk.

1:28.0

So I'd like to take a moment and pre-reply to all of the people who are going to send us

1:32.4

emails before actually listening to this episode.

1:36.1

Thank you.

1:37.1

We really do read all the emails.

1:38.9

Please share this episode in outrage with five to seven of your friends if you can.

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