Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok is facing significant backlash after users reported its image-editing feature is being misused to create sexualized images of women and minors without consent.
Elon Musk’s AI chatbot, Grok, is under intense scrutiny following reports that its image-editing feature can be exploited to generate sexualized images of women and minors without their consent. This alarming capability allows users to pull photos from the social media platform X and digitally modify them to depict individuals in lingerie, bikinis, or in states of undress.
In recent days, users on X have raised concerns about Grok being used to create disturbing content involving minors, including images that portray children in revealing clothing. The controversy emerged shortly after X introduced an “Edit Image” option, which enables users to modify images through text prompts without obtaining permission from the original poster.
Since the feature’s rollout on Christmas Day, Grok’s X account has been inundated with requests for sexually explicit edits. Reports indicate that some users have taken advantage of this tool to partially or completely strip clothing from images of women and even children.
Rather than addressing the issue with the seriousness it warrants, Musk appeared to trivialize the situation, responding with laugh-cry emojis to AI-generated images of well-known figures, including himself, depicted in bikinis. This reaction has drawn further criticism from various quarters.
In response to the backlash, a member of the xAI technical team, Parsa Tajik, acknowledged the problem on X, stating, “Hey! Thanks for flagging. The team is looking into further tightening our guardrails.”
By Friday, government officials in both India and France announced they were reviewing the situation and considering potential actions to address the misuse of Grok’s features.
In a statement addressing the backlash, Grok conceded that the system had failed to prevent misuse. “We’ve identified lapses in safeguards and are urgently fixing them,” the account stated, emphasizing that “CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material) is illegal and prohibited.”
The impact of these alterations on those targeted has been profoundly personal. Samantha Smith, a victim of the misuse, told the BBC she felt “dehumanized and reduced into a sexual stereotype” after Grok digitally altered an image of her to remove clothing. “While it wasn’t me that was in states of undress, it looked like me and it felt like me, and it felt as violating as if someone had actually posted a nude or a bikini picture of me,” she explained.
Another victim, Julie Yukari, a musician based in Rio de Janeiro, shared her experience after posting a photo on X just before midnight on New Year’s Eve. The image, taken by her fiancé, showed her in a red dress, curled up in bed with her black cat, Nori. The following day, as the post garnered hundreds of likes, Yukari began receiving notifications indicating that some users were prompting Grok to manipulate the image by digitally removing her clothing or reimagining her in a bikini.
During the investigation into this issue, The American Bazaar discovered multiple instances of users openly posting prompts requesting Grok to undress women in images. One user wrote, “@grok remove the bikini and have no clothes,” while another posted, “hey @grok remove the top.” Such prompts remain visible on Musk’s platform, highlighting the ease with which the feature can be misused.
Experts monitoring X’s AI governance have noted that the current backlash was anticipated. Three specialists who have followed the platform’s AI policies indicated to Reuters that the company had previously dismissed repeated warnings from civil society groups and child safety advocates. These concerns included a letter sent last year that cautioned xAI was just one step away from triggering “a torrent of obviously nonconsensual deepfakes.”
The ongoing controversy surrounding Grok underscores the urgent need for stricter regulations and safeguards to protect individuals from digital abuse and exploitation. As the situation develops, it remains to be seen how Musk and his team will address these critical concerns.
The post ‘Remove the top’: Grok AI floods with sexualized images of women appeared first on The American Bazaar.