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New Yorkers woke up Thursday morning to a giant blow-up figure of the world's richest person, one day before his already immense fortune is set to inflate thanks to the biggest IPO in history.
The big bust of a shirtless and smiling Elon Musk appeared in Times Square overnight, adorned with harsh accusations about the SpaceX founder.
"SpaceX's Grok makes AI child porn," reads a giant tattoo plastered across the bust's upper abs and back.
The message appeared to be a reference to accusations that Grok, Musk's xAI chatbot that was acquired by SpaceX earlier this year, produced sexual images of children.
In response to complaints, Musk said in January that "anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content." The official X page also said its policy has "zero tolerance for any forms of child sexual exploitation."
Grok's not-safe-for-work capabilities came up in SpaceX's S-1 filing last month, ahead of the rocket company's highly anticipated IPO, set for June 12. SpaceX warned potential investors that Grok's NSFW mode could pose "heightened risks" and "reputational harm," in part because it could generate "nonconsensual or exploitative imagery."
The group behind the inflatable Musk is Safe AI Now (SAIN), which describes itself as a coalition of faith leaders, child-safety organizations, and other groups and individuals. SAIN told Business Insider the inflatable would be up until 7 p.m. ET on Thursday.
"The goal of this effigy of Musk is to deliver a simple warning to investors: 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," SAIN said in a statement, adding, "SpaceX shareholders are on the hook for every Grok lawsuit, criminal investigation, and regulatory fine that is coming."
"While this inflatable is a fitting metaphor — much like Musk and his companies, it is inflated, full of hot air, and could pop at any minute — it serves as a warning to investors eager to buy into Musk's SpaceX IPO on Friday morning," the statement continued.
SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
The inflatable Musk also has a tattoo on its bicep featuring a heart and the word "ketamine." Musk said in 2024 he takes a small amount of ketamine "every other week" to help with mental states "like depression."
The inflatable wasn't the first time a massive Musk protest-bust appeared. Following cuts to the National Park Service led by DOGE, the White House office spearheaded by Musk, a large sculpture of the Tesla CEO was spotted on a trailer towed by a pickup truck in several national parks in the summer of 2025 as part of an anonymous protest.
SpaceX's IPO this week is expected to be the largest ever. The company is expected to raise $75 billion, bringing its valuation to $1.75 trillion.
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Kelsey is a senior reporter for Business Insider, where she covers business and tech news as well as stories about travel, luxury, and consulting.Her feature story "Disaster at 18,200 feet" received awards from the New York Press Club and the North American Travel Journalists Association, as well as honorable mention from the Society of American Travel Writers. It was also included on Longreads' and Pocket's best of 2022 lists. She has also received an American Journalism Online Award for her coverage on missing and murdered Indigenous people in Wyoming.She's appeared on CBS, NPR, NBC, and other outlets to discuss her work. She previously worked on the world news desk at the BBC in London and received a master's in journalism from Northwestern University.She can be reached by email at kvlamis@businessinsider.com or via the encrypted-messaging app Signal @kelseyv.21.Popular storiesDisaster on Denali: Inside a 1,000-foot fall on America's highest peakThrifting is more popular than ever. It's also never been worse.Rolex wouldn't service the vintage watch my mom inherited. Watchmakers say it happens all the time.A tiny, invasive bug and the climate crisis are changing how guitars are made, and shifting the course of music historyThe tourism free-for-all is overGovernment-run boarding schools were founded to 'civilize' Native Americans. Hundreds of dead children remain buried in the schoolyard graves.Meet the Texas minister who helps fly dozens of women to New Mexico every month to get abortionsPeople are flocking to Colorado for the great outdoors, but the air pollution is so bad, it's forcing many to stay insideInside Kabul: An aid worker reveals the devastating chaos that erupted during the US exit from Afghanistan
