this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2026
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This should make the entire model illegal. Train it on illegal stuff: delete the whole model.
In all seriousness, there are some very interesting legal questions that will be raised if this case makes it that far.
The problem is that there's no existing law that would effect this on its own. To my knowledge, no country in the world has a law on the books specifically dealing with AI models trained on CSAM. So the question, under existing laws, would turn on whether the data stored within the model itself would constitute CSAM.
The problem, in no small part, is that we have serious gaps in our public consensus knowledge about how LLMs actually work.
There's a case that, AFAIK, is still being argued in Germany pushing the theory that LLMs actually do, in effect, store a copy of all their training data, just in a compressed form. This certainly seems to hold some water given both the tests they relied on, and the situation with this Jane Doe where the model produced images so alike to real images of her that they tripped hash detections.
The German case argues that this is analogous to the difference between an MP3 and a WAV, or a JPEG and a PNG. That sharing a lossy copy of a work is no less infringing just because it's imperfect.
If the underlying claim - that LLMs function as a form of lossy compression - can be substantiated then there would be a real argument that the model itself would constitute CSAM. Since there would be no realistic method that I'm aware of for removing the offending material from the model - and presumably SpaceX would have to somehow prove that they've done so - that would make the entire model contraband. They'd have to retrain on a clean dataset.
Of course I said "if the case makes it that far" at the top because I don't think it will. SpaceX will do anything and everything to avoid handing over meaningful discovery in this case, including, I suspect, outright destruction of evidence. If there is anything that actually proves that they used CSAM in the training data then they are so far beyond fucked that there's simply no downside to further illegality in pursuit of concealing their crimes. They have the world's wealthiest asshole in a position to throw literal billions at making this go away. I genuinely wouldn't be surprised if people turn up dead off the back of this if that's what it takes.
If it was trained on it, that means they are in possession of it, which that right there is straight to jail. I have a feeling they're scrubbing everything they can right now as we chat
Was going to say basically say the same exact same thing. There is no law saying how AI is handled when using stollen materials or other “illegal” content.
But somehow we have all been brought to believe that somehow “new” technology isn’t subject to existing laws.
If x or any other company downloaded CSAM everyone in the company should be arrested.
I assume you cannot possibly mean that as written, right?
I'm absolutely for arresting anyone who was involved with this, or had knowledge that it was happening. But we're obviously not talking about going after Jane the intern here, right?
I won't say everyone. I've actually been at a company who was investigated (not for CSAM, but other things that happened). I had no idea it even happened, and luckily was not involved with any of it. So for me no, I wouldn't have wanted that. That being said 2 things, say I had been in the position. If our scraper was downloading it and it was my scraper, damn right I would have flagged it to legal, HR, and everyone I could have, along with writing some way to prevent it, and written everything down in a complete log (off company computer). If it wasn't stopped immediately I would either quit, whistleblowed, or happily talked with anyone raiding and making sure any of the decision makers were hauled off. I don't blame someone for being lowest level at a shit company, been there. (Although I will say, xAI, come on, no one is "stuck" there, but that doesn't mean that Dave the brand new intern out of college should be hauled off). Who I blame are the suits who were probably told it was happening and chose to ignore it, and any engineer I do blame if they knew about it and chose not to do one of the above.
As an engineer I've had my fair share of let's say... challenges that I've had to morally grapple with. Things I've been asked to do that may not be moral. However, there's a pretty wide chasm between "Implement this dark pattern so people won't unsubscribe" and "host this and don't tell anyone"
If you started a company that made CSAM do you think you and every one involved should be let off, because you claim it was a technological oopsie?
People have been pointing out that xAI is a CSAM machine since basically the first day it came out. And when they basically said they don’t care. All the employees that stayed are all accomplices to the crimes… let alone the people who started working there after.
The only way to stop these companies is to start holding people accountable. And they will never hold the people at the top to account.
So make it hurt for everyone involved and then people will think twice before they sign up to do evil deeds for evil people.
But you didn't say "The people at the top", you said "Everyone." I think you need to take a moment to figure out what you're actually arguing for here.
Again, I would happily see anyone who had knowledge of this arrested. They either supported it, or knew of it and said nothing. And yeah, we can throw in anyone who maintained wilful ignorance too. If that includes Elon himself, so much the better. We already know the dude is a fucking pedophile, maybe this is how they'll finally nail him.
But if you're arguing for arresting the cafeteria lunch guy over this, that is an insane position to hold.
So which is it?
I have been thinking about it and I agree it’s an extreme position.
But these deeds are not being done by one person. And at some point whether you are an active participant or not you are continuing to work there so you have some level of complicity.
If you came into work today to find your building full of feds packing up evidence, because it turned out that, entirely unbeknownst to you, five members of the C-suite had been running a child sex ring, would you consider yourself "complicit"?
See the thing is that the situation you are bringing up is different. Yes, if your boss/owner/ceo has been running a sex ring outside of the company you are working for yeah I can see how you would be like ok maybe the people at this company have nothing to do with this.
However in the situation we are referring it has made global news. And not only that but it is the product that you as an employee are there in support of. Whether you are an intern the janitor or the engineer who directly made this product. You being there is enabling it.
See, now you've flipped from making a legal judgement to making a moral one. I'm not defending the people who work on Grok. You're allowed to think whatever you like of anyone who willingly takes a job for a Nazi. But there's a difference between moral liability and legal liability. Even if I have precious little respect for those people, laws matter, because whatever legal standard you apply to someone else, you have to be willing to apply to yourself.