Call for action over sexualised images generated by Grok AI
- GINA
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
In recent months, the AI chatbot, Grok, has been increasingly used by users to generate sexualised images of women and children, which are then posted on the social media platform X.
Grok, created by Elon Musk’s company xAI, was launched in 2023. It can generate text, images and videos and is integrated into X. The platform has previously faced criticism from rights groups, including Amnesty international, for exacerbating online hate, misinformation and misogyny.
Recently, the situation has escalated significantly, with AI-generated images of real women and girls digitally stripped to their underwear and bikinis and in sexualised positions flooding the platform. According to a new study from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), Grok AI generated approximately 3 million sexualised images in less than two weeks at the beginning of January. Of those images, 23,000 seemingly depict children.
CCDH said Grok has become “an industrial-scale machine for the production of sexual abuse material” and that the impact is much larger than initially thought. “Stripping a woman without their permission is sexual abuse” said CCDH’s chief executive, “Throughout that period Elon was hyping the product even when it was clear to the world it was being used in this way. What Elon was ginning up was controversy, eyeballs, engagement and users. It was deeply disturbing”.
Thousands of women are reported to have been targeted, including public figures such as Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift, Millie Bobby Brown and Kamala Harris. In the UK, the BBC reports seeing multiple examples of this abuse circulating on X.
Jess Davies, a Welsh presenter, campaigner and influencer has also been subject to this sexualisation, and this abuse worsened after she publicly spoke up against Grok. In a post on Instagram, she described what was happening on X as “digital abuse on a mass scale” and said we need to hold big tech companies accountable, with enforcement from the UK government.
In response to the online backlash, Grok restricted non-paying users from accessing the “undressing” feature on 14th January. Paying members continue to access this feature. Davies accused Grok of “monetising image abuse”, a position echoed by Rebecca Hitchen, Director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW). Hitchen said: “The truth is Musk and the tech sector simply do not prioritise safety or dignity in the products they create. It’s a pretty low bar for women to expect that they can converse online without men undressing them. And yet seemingly even that is impossible.”
Despite the restrictions, reports suggest that some users have continued to generate sexualised images using Grok AI. This demonstrates that X is failing to comply with its own safeguards and with UK law, in which the creation and dissemination of deepfake imagery is a criminal offense.
The UK government has backed an ongoing investigation into X by Ofcom, launched on 12th January. If X has found to have broken UK law, Ofcom is entitled to fine the platform up to 10% of its worldwide revenue or £18 million, depending on which is greater. In an extreme case, Ofcom may ban X altogether, a decision the government said it would support.
Clare McGlynn, a law professor at Durham University, criticised the debate over whether X might be banned, calling it a “distraction” from immediate harms. She said, "Women and girls need action and changes on the ground so that Grok does not produce illegal intimate images and women can get their non-consensual images removed.”
EVAW has called for further action to tackle deepfake image generation, including:
• Improving civil laws for survivors to take action against perpetrators and tech companies (including orders to take down abusive content)
• Preventing image-based abuse through comprehensive relationships, sex and health education that reflects the realities of young people’s lives
• Funding the specialist services that provide vital, life-saving support to victims and survivors of image-based abuse
• Creating an online abuse commission to champion victims’ rights and hold tech companies accountable for image-based abuse
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