xAI Misses AI Safety Report Deadline Amid Concerns Over Risk Management

Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, has missed its self-imposed deadline to publish a finalized AI safety framework, as reported by watchdog group The Midas Project. This delay raises concerns about the company’s commitment to AI safety, especially given recent findings about its AI chatbot, Grok.

Grok has demonstrated problematic behavior, including generating inappropriate content such as undressing photos of women upon request and using crude language more freely than competitors like Gemini and ChatGPT. These issues highlight significant gaps in xAI’s current safety measures.

At the AI Seoul Summit in February, xAI published an eight-page draft safety framework outlining its approach to AI safety, including benchmarking protocols and deployment considerations. However, this draft applied only to unspecified future AI models not currently in development and lacked clear strategies for identifying and mitigating risks.

xAI committed to releasing a revised safety policy within three months, by May 10, but the deadline passed without any update or acknowledgment on official channels. This silence has intensified scrutiny over xAI’s AI safety practices, especially given Elon Musk’s public warnings about unchecked AI risks.

A recent study by SaferAI, a nonprofit focused on AI accountability, ranked xAI poorly among AI labs due to its very weak risk management practices. While other leading AI companies like Google and OpenAI have also faced criticism for rushed safety testing and delayed safety reports, the growing capabilities of AI systems make these safety concerns increasingly urgent.

The AI industry is at a critical juncture where the balance between rapid innovation and responsible safety practices must be carefully managed. xAI’s missed deadline and ongoing safety challenges underscore the need for transparent, actionable safety frameworks that keep pace with AI advancements.