{"id":398189,"date":"2026-01-30T05:44:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T05:44:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/398189\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T05:44:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T05:44:15","slug":"elon-musk-announces-new-grok-horrors-after-sexual-images-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/398189\/","title":{"rendered":"Elon Musk announces new Grok horrors after sexual images scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Elon Musk\u2019s Grok has already been widely criticised for what it allows users to generate (VINCENT FEURAY\/Hans Lucas\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Elon Musk’s Grok has already been widely criticised for what it allows users to generate (VINCENT FEURAY\/Hans Lucas\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Tech billionaire Elon Musk announced X\u2019s chatbot Grok can now generate AI videos up to 10 seconds long by sharing a video using Sydney Sweeney\u2019s likeness.<\/p>\n

It is a development that comes just weeks after the platform was widely condemned<\/a> for allowing Grok to digitally undress people without their consent and generate sexualised images of children<\/a> at users\u2019 request.<\/p>\n

In the video generated by AI graphic designer Alex Patrascu, which promotes xAI\u2019s Grok Imagine, the faux Sydney Sweeney<\/a>, which actually sounds nothing like the real actress, tells an equally AI-generated co-star: \u201cSo let me get this straight. Grok videos are now 10 seconds, and the audio is greatly improved?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, pretty much\u2026 Do you like it?\u201d he replies. <\/p>\n

AI Sweeney nods, dropping her gaze down the male character\u2019s body. <\/p>\n

Musk captioned the post: \u201cGrok video is now 10 seconds and the audio is greatly improved.\u201d <\/p>\n

In the replies to Musk\u2019s post, many users were worryingly quick to express their delight that they could now use the tool to generate clips of Sweeney.<\/p>\n

\u201cGooners gonna have a field day with it,\u201d one user, unfortunately accurately, noted. <\/p>\n

Musk\u2019s announcement comes just weeks after he, his platform X \u2013 formerly known as Twitter \u2013 and Grok itself were widely lambasted for allowing users to generate images of real people in sexualised contexts, including children.<\/p>\n

Around the start of the year, several users \u2013 many of which were women \u2013 reported that their photos were being altered by Grok at other users\u2019 request to show them in an undressed manner without their consent.<\/p>\n

Grok generated the images after users replied to people\u2019s photographs, such as a selfie, asking it to \u201cput them in a bikini\u201d, whilst others also asked for the women to be covered in a doughnut-style glaze \u2013 an attempt to sexualise otherwise innocent images.<\/p>\n

\"SydneySydney Sweeney (Stuart C. Wilson\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

There were also cases where Grok altered images of children in a similarly sexualised manner following requests from individual users.<\/p>\n

PinkNews independently verified the validity of some of these images.<\/p>\n

In response, digital watchdogs around the world \u2013 including the UK\u2019s Ofcom<\/a>, the European Union\u2019s European Comission and bodies in Australia, Germany and France \u2013 all launched investigations into the AI tool and what it is able to generate.<\/p>\n

Henna Virkkunen, executive vice-president for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy at the Commission described<\/a> the deepfakes generated by Grok as a \u201cviolent, unacceptable form of degradation\u201d, adding the investigation would \u201cdetermine whether X has met its legal obligations under the DSA [Digital Services Act], or whether it treated rights of European citizens \u2013 including those of women and children \u2013 as collateral damage of its service\u201d.<\/p>\n

Amid the criticism, Musk stated on 3 January anyone who was using Grok to \u201cmake illegal content\u201d would \u201csuffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content\u201d. <\/p>\n

\"Grok\"Thousands of people use Grok each day (Photo illustration by Joe Raedle\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

X\u2019s official Safety account subsequently shared a statement, which read: \u201cWe take action against illegal content on X, including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content,\u201d it added, echoing Musk\u2019s own post from a day earlier.<\/p>\n

However, this week Musk appeared to poke fun at this criticism and restrictions placed on Grok by sharing an AI generated image taken from a screenshot from the trailer for upcoming video game Grand Theft Auto VI. <\/p>\n

Placed side-by-side, the first image was a standard screenshot from the trailer showcasing the game\u2019s NPCs on the beach in Miami-inspired\u00a0Vice City, beneath it was the same image but with everyone covered in traditional Islamic dress.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so hard to get the moderation just right,\u201d Musk captioned the post.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Elon Musk\u2019s Grok has already been widely criticised for what it allows users to generate (VINCENT FEURAY\/Hans Lucas\/AFP…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":398190,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[554,733,4308,995,5726,86,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-398189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-elon-musk","tag-grok","tag-technology","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/398190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}