A massive inflatable effigy of Elon Musk was displayed in New York City's Times Square on June 11, one day before SpaceX's highly anticipated initial public offering (IPO) scheduled for June 12, 2026 [1, 2].
The protest was organized by Safe AI Now (SAIN), a coalition of advocacy groups, who accused Musk's AI chatbot Grok of enabling the production of sexualized images of minors. The effigy featured a tattoo referencing ketamine, a drug Musk has publicly said he uses biweekly for mental health [1, 2]. Masked attendants stood by handing out flyers but did not engage with the press [1].
SpaceX's IPO will start trading at $135 per share, valuing the company at $1.77 trillion, making it the largest company ever to debut on the stock market. Elon Musk will maintain majority voting control after the IPO [1].
Grok is the AI chatbot developed by xAI, a company founded by Musk and acquired by SpaceX earlier this year in February 2026 [1]. The European Commission is investigating xAI over risks related to nonconsensual sexual imagery produced by its technology. In March 2026, three girls filed a class action lawsuit against xAI alleging harm caused by Grok’s outputs [1].
Musk stated in January 2026 that anyone using Grok to produce illegal content would face consequences [2]. However, SpaceX’s IPO filing disclosed risks tied to Grok’s NSFW mode, which could cause reputational damage to the company [2].
SAIN representatives warned investors, saying, "This IPO is a liability shift. Elon is responsible for all of this. It's all the decisions that he's made. All of those litigation expenses, regulatory fines, investigations, all of that is basically being shifted to the shareholders" [1]. They added, "Musk built a dangerous and exploitative AI, covered up the damage, merged it with SpaceX, and is now selling the liability to the public at $135 a share. SpaceX shareholders are on the hook for every Grok lawsuit, criminal investigation, and regulatory fine that is coming" [2].
SpaceX did not respond to requests for comment from Wired and Business Insider [1, 2].
SpaceX’s IPO is set to begin trading June 12, 2026, marking a milestone as the largest-ever public offering despite ongoing legal and regulatory pressures linked to its AI operations [2].
