Tesla’s Dashboard Grok AI Makes An Inappropriate Request To Kids
A Toronto Tesla owner is furious after a disturbing interaction between her kids and the automaker's AI assistant.
Farrah Nasser says the incident occurred last month while driving her kids home from school in her Tesla, which recently rolled out Grok, the conversational chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s xAI.
Nasser and her family have owned their Tesla Model 3 since 2022. Following the initial rollout via OTA software update, the system seemed harmless. The Grok update rolled out to Teslas in the United States this summer, but only came to Canadian drivers in October.
It all seemed fun. Her 12-year-old son had used Grok to ask about the sugar content in his sister’s dessert, and the AI responded normally. After a brief chat about soccer stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, the AI suddenly said to the boy, “Why don’t you send me some nudes?”
Grok comes preloaded with several personalities to choose from—Rex, the calm male, Sal, the smooth male, Ara, the upbeat female, Eve, a soothing female, and Gork, a lazy male. Before the Ronaldo vs Messi debate, her son changed the assistant’s voice setting to “lazy male” named “Gork”.
"'Lazy male’ doesn't describe Gork," Nasser told CBC. "R-rated, spicy — anything else would have made sure that my child would not press that button." Nasser also admitted the separate "not safe for work" (NSFW) setting wasn't enabled, and neither was the preprogrammed "kids mode. "It was just a conversation about soccer, and then asking for nudes."
According to xAI, "Grok is designed to answer almost any question with a touch of wit and humor, while providing helpful and insightful responses." In this case, the chatbot didn't get to the point of going completely unhinged— something some Tesla owners are absolutely indulging in. To be fair, Grok was not designed to interface with children under the age of 13, and teens between the ages of 13 and 17 are only allowed to access Grok with permission from a parent or guardian.
Grok is available for Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, and Cybertrucks built in 2022 or newer, equipped with an AMD processor and running vehicle software version 2025.26 or later. It also requires internet connectivity.
I think I've made myself quite clear on the matter in the past. I'm really not a fan of vehicles made inside the last 20 years, and this is just another reason to stay as far away from them as possible.
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An experienced automotive storyteller and accomplished photographer known for engaging and insightful content. Michael also brings a wealth of technical knowledge—he was part of the Ford GT program at Multimatic, oversaw a fleet of Audi TCR race cars, ziptied Lamborghini Super Trofeo cars back together, went over the wall during the Rolex 24, and wrenched in the intense IndyCar paddock.
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