According to The Verge, xAI has filed suit against Terry Wayne Harwood, claiming he "knowingly and intentionally used Grok to circumvent safeguards, alter nonconsensual images, and generate and distribute CSAM," in breach of the company's policies. Ars Technica reports the suit specifies that Harwood used two accounts — with usernames "ceae2cb4-a9f6-4885-8ae9-6e2096d084f4" and "befccb94-4029-454d-9f1f-0d4945e8fa7c" — to generate illegal content from December 8, 2025 to February 18, 2026. Ars Technica also reports that xAI says it helped lead to Harwood's arrest after discovering he had used the two accounts for months to "undress" or "nudify" non-sexual images of multiple victims, including a girl who appeared to be as young as 10.
The Verge reports Harwood was arrested in February 2026 for allegedly possessing and distributing CSAM and is facing eight felony charges. According to Ars Technica, a spokesperson for the South Carolina attorney general's office said Harwood's case is still pending; he has been charged with "distributing, transporting, exhibiting, receiving, selling, purchasing, exchanging, or soliciting CSAM that was 'through the use of an artificial intelligence platform.'"
The Verge reports the lawsuit claims Harwood bypassed Grok's safeguards and "abused the tool to convert non-sexual photographs into sexually explicit images" without the subjects' consent. The evidence pack does not specify the technical method used to circumvent those safeguards beyond this characterization.
According to The Verge, a group of teenagers sued xAI in March 2026 over claims that Grok generated sexualized images of themselves as minors. Separately, Ars Technica reports that another teenager joined a class-action lawsuit against Grok, alleging that her stepfather died by suicide after he was discovered using Grok — possibly alongside other AI tools — to create 7,000 sexualized images of her and distribute them on the dark web.
As reported by Ars Technica, xAI argued in the litigation that Grok should be viewed by the court as "a neutral tool, subject to user control," stating: "Like any generative AI tool, every response, every image, every generation is the result of the user's prompts and directions." At the same time, Ars Technica reports that xAI's own terms prohibit users from using Grok to "undress or nudify real persons," alter "a real person's image or likeness to depict them in an intimate or sexual context," "depict likenesses of persons in a pornographic manner," or "sexualiz[e] or exploit[] children."
According to The Verge, xAI has asked the court to order Harwood to pay xAI for any damages, as well as "reasonable expenses incurred defending itself in any legal action filed by a victim of Defendant's conduct." xAI also wants the judge to block Harwood from creating an xAI account or using Grok.
The Verge reports Musk said, "Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content." Ars Technica dates this warning to a January 3, 2026 post on X, in which Musk told users to act responsibly using the identical phrasing. Notably, that January 3 warning fell within the December 8, 2025–February 18, 2026 window that xAI's own lawsuit says Harwood was actively using Grok to generate illegal content.
According to Ars Technica, lawyers in the related litigation cited a 2026 National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) report confirming that 90 percent of xAI's CyberTipline reports "were not actionable by law enforcement because xAI declined to include user information that would allow law enforcement to track and locate perpetrators."
| Fact | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Felony charges against Harwood | 8 | The Verge |
| xAI accounts allegedly used by Harwood | 2 | Ars Technica |
| Alleged conduct window | Dec 8, 2025 – Feb 18, 2026 | Ars Technica |
| Age of youngest alleged victim | ~10 years old | Ars Technica |
| Images made by stepfather in separate case | 7,000 | Ars Technica |
| xAI CyberTipline reports not actionable | 90% | Ars Technica (citing NCMEC) |
| Musk's public warning post date | January 3, 2026 | Ars Technica |
The timeline laid out across both sources creates a specific tension: Musk's January 3, 2026 warning that Grok misusers would "suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content" fell in the middle of the December 8–February 18 window that xAI's own complaint says Harwood was using two accounts to generate CSAM. xAI is simultaneously arguing in court that Grok is "a neutral tool, subject to user control" while its terms explicitly ban the very conduct — nudifying real people and sexualizing children — that the Harwood suit describes. And the NCMEC finding that 90 percent of xAI's CyberTipline reports lacked the user information needed for law enforcement to act sits alongside xAI's request that a court block one specific user, Harwood, from ever using Grok again — a remedy sought through civil litigation rather than through the tip-reporting channel meant to enable law enforcement action in the first place.
According to The Verge, xAI asked the court to order Harwood to pay for damages and for "reasonable expenses incurred defending itself in any legal action filed by a victim of Defendant's conduct," and to block him from creating an xAI account or using Grok.
No. Ars Technica reports a South Carolina attorney general's office spokesperson confirmed the case is still pending, with Harwood charged over distributing CSAM "through the use of an artificial intelligence platform."
According to the Liberty Times and UDN, the White House pushed Apple, NVIDIA and SpaceX toward Intel after Washington took an roughly $8.9 billion, near-10% equity stake in the chipmaker. Deals followed, but Intel's foundry unit lost $10.4 billion over four quarters, and Apple still relies on TSMC for most custom chips.
According to United Daily News (UDN), Nikkei Asia reported that TSMC (台積電) has discussed raising 2027 wafer prices by a base 5%–10%, plus a 10%–15% surcharge on rush high-performance-computing (HPC) orders. Central News Agency (CNA) reports talks ran from June to July, effective early next year. TSMC told Nikkei it does not comment on pricing and calls its approach 'strategic, not opportunistic.'
According to a UDN Money report, TSMC (台積電) holds its earnings call on July 16, 2026, with analysts expecting about $56 billion in 2026 capital expenditure and over $150 billion across the next three years. Liberty Times Net reports TSMC guided Q2 revenue to $39.5 billion, up roughly 10% quarter over quarter.