In a letter sent to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Monday, a group of Senate Democrats raised concerns about the Pentagon’s decision to use xAI’s Grok chatbot in Department of Defense networks.

The senators said that Grok’s record of producing antisemitic content — pointing in particular to an antisemitic tirade by the chatbot in 2025 — as well as its more recent history of generating non-consensual pornographic images of people, including children, raises concerns about the Defense Department’s use of the model.

“We are particularly concerned by this development, given Grok’s reported recent track record promoting Holocaust denial, spreading racist ideologies, and generating deepfake pornography of children,” the lawmakers wrote. “Grok’s generation of such content has triggered various investigations of the platform and the potential use of this model by a federal agency is troubling.”

The lawmakers asked Hegseth to explain what rules and regulations are in place regarding the use of AI in the Defense Department, including safeguards against Grok promoting antisemitism, racist conspiracy theories and sexual content and what measures are being taken to ensure data privacy.

“While AI technology can facilitate innovation, it must be deployed, used, and regulated in a manner consistent with the national interest and standards of decency,” the letter continues.

The letter was led by Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and co-signed by Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), John Hickenlooper (D-CO) and Raphael Warnock (D-GA).

Groups of House members have pressed both the Pentagon and xAI CEO Elon Musk about the antisemitic content produced by Grok and the Pentagon’s plans to utilize the chatbot.
xAI told lawmakers that the antisemitic rants were a result of an “unintended update” to the chatbot’s code.