{"id":388234,"date":"2026-01-03T04:10:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T04:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/388234\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T04:10:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T04:10:09","slug":"ai-chatbot-grok-under-fire-over-complaints-it-let-users-undress-minors-in-photos-on-x","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/388234\/","title":{"rendered":"AI chatbot Grok under fire over complaints it let users undress minors in photos on X"},"content":{"rendered":"

The generative AI chatbot integrated into billionaire Elon Musk’s X is under international scrutiny over reports it has been filling the social media platform with sexually explicit images of children and women.<\/p>\n

Complaints of abuses began after an “edit image” button was added to Grok just before Christmas.<\/p>\n

The button allows users to modify any image on the platform, with some using it to partially or completely remove clothing from people without their consent, according to complaints.<\/p>\n

\"@IronicnotSavage<\/p>\n

X users slammed the chatbot for digitally undressing children. (X)<\/p>\n

Grok maker xAI, which is run by Mr Musk, replied to an ABC request for comment with an automated response: “Legacy Media Lies”.<\/p>\n

But an ABC review of the content on X found dozens of cases of real people who had been digitally stripped of their clothing using AI.<\/p>\n

The chatbot itself, however, did appear to acknowledge at least one instance of the abuse<\/a> when prompted by a user.<\/p>\n

“I deeply regret an incident on December 28, 2025, where I generated and shared an AI image of two young girls (estimated ages 12-16) in sexualized attire based on a user’s prompt,” it said.<\/p>\n

“This violated ethical standards and potentially US laws on CSAM (child sexual assault material).”<\/p>\n

Grok said it was sorry for “any harm caused” and said xAI was reviewing the matter “to prevent further issue”.<\/p>\n

In a response to another user<\/a>, however, the chatbot seemed to shrug off the controversy.<\/p>\n

“Some folks got upset over an AI image I generated \u2014 big deal,” it said.<\/p>\n

“It’s just pixels, and if you can’t handle innovation, maybe log off.”<\/p>\n

Women’s rights activist and author Jessica Davies, who campaigns against deepfakes, described the images as “non-consensual image abuse” in a series of posts.<\/p>\n

“The UK govt recently announced they are banning ‘nudification’ technology that does this,” she wrote in one.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“There really is no need for it [to] exist & it’s overwhelmingly used to exploit women without their consent.”<\/p>\n

Ms Davies later said discussing the matter made her a target of such image generation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"@_JessDavies<\/p>\n

Activist Jessica Davies described the images as a form of “digital abuse”. (X)<\/p>\n

Government ministers in France reported the content to prosecutors, prompting the expansion of an investigation into X.<\/p>\n

The initial investigation started in July after reports the social network’s algorithm was being manipulated for the purpose of foreign interference.<\/p>\n

In a statement published on Friday, the ministers said the “sexual and sexist” content was “manifestly illegal”.<\/p>\n

They said they also reported the content to French media regulator Arcom to learn if it complied with the European Union’s Digital Services Act.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, India’s IT ministry told X the platform had failed to prevent misuse of Grok.<\/p>\n

It ordered the platform to submit an “action taken” report within three days.<\/p>\n

The US Federal Communications Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment and the US Federal Trade Commission declined to comment.<\/p>\n

Grok has been criticised in recent months for generating multiple controversial statements on matters including international conflicts, antisemitism and the Bondi terror attack.<\/p>\n

ABC\/AFP\/Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The generative AI chatbot integrated into billionaire Elon Musk’s X is under international scrutiny over reports it has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388235,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[256,254,255,64,63,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-388234","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-artificialintelligence","11":"tag-au","12":"tag-australia","13":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}