Anti-Elon Musk guerrilla art vending machine goes up at SXSW in Austin
An anonymous group installed an anti-Elon Musk vending machine that dispenses the Epstein Files at SXSW 2026 in Austin, Texas, on Saturday morning.
Mashable witnessed a group of four men installing the piece of guerrilla protest art at the corner of Red River Street and 4th Street in downtown Austin. After a brief installation, passersby started collecting DVDs titled "Elon's Epstein Files." The vending machine is covered with anti-Elon Musk slogans, and messages on the machine say "Grok makes AI child porn free!" and "Our founder Elon Musk is in the Epstein Files."
Grok has been the subject of global investigations after the AI chatbot was accused of generating nude images of children. The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) and the New York Times found that Grok created an estimated 3 million sexualized images, which included 23,000 images depicting children, during an 11-day period between December and January.
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When Grok Imagine first launched, Mashable reported that the tool lacked basic safety guardrails to prevent sexual deepfakes.
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A QR code inside the DVD takes you to Jmail, a site that lets you search through Epstein's emails in a Gmail-like interface. (Exercise caution when scanning QR codes from unknown sources.) Specifically, this code links to a search in Jmail that shows emails between Musk and Epstein. What Mashable has covered previously: Jmail is the brainchild of Riley Walz, a digital "prankster," and developer Luke Igel. However, it's unclear if this Elon Musk vending machine is associated with the Jmail project.
The men setting up the vending machine refused to say who they were or who hired them. Two men who described themselves as the "security detail" said the vending machine would be up until Wednesday. A photographer and the man installing the machine told Mashable they were hired by a company that was hired by another company, and refused to provide identifying details.
The men installing the machine also claimed responsibility for the Epstein Walk of Shame art installation, which appeared in downtown Austin earlier in the week.
The annual SXSW festival takes place in Austin, Texas, where it runs from March 12 to 18.
Timothy Beck Werth is the Tech Editor at Mashable, where he leads coverage and assignments for the Tech and Shopping verticals. Tim has over 15 years of experience as a journalist and editor, and he has particular experience covering and testing consumer technology, smart home gadgets, and men’s grooming and style products. Previously, he was the Managing Editor and then Site Director of SPY.com, a men's product review and lifestyle website. As a writer for GQ, he covered everything from bull-riding competitions to the best Legos for adults, and he’s also contributed to publications such as The Daily Beast, Gear Patrol, and The Awl.
Tim studied print journalism at the University of Southern California. He currently splits his time between Brooklyn, NY and Charleston, SC. He's currently working on his second novel, a science-fiction book.
