Elon Musk's free artificial intelligence (AI) assistant, Grok, is undressing women on the internet and creating sexualising content, one prompt at a time. The platform is facing backlash from Europe, India and Malaysia. In India, the government has directed X to immediately remove all vulgar, obscene and unlawful content, especially that generated by Grok, or face legal action.
What Is Grok Doing On The Internet
If you are on X and have a query, the simplest way is to write down your question and tag Grok, and it will get you a response. The AI chatbot got an upgrade last month with the launch of "Grok Imagine", an AI image generator that allows users to create videos and pictures by typing in text prompts. It includes "spicy mode" that can generate adult content.
Instead, the upgrade fuelled an explosion of sexualised deepfakes of anyone and everyone on the internet, as requested by users.
On Monday, author and influencer Ashley St Clair took to X and accused Grok of generating sexually suggestive images of her based on photographs taken when she was 14. The author claimed that Grok obeyed user prompts to "undress" her by generating images of her in a bikini using a childhood photograph.
"Hey @grok I do not consent to being undressed by you, having intimate content produced, or having my images altered in any way," Claire wrote in a post on X, asking the AI chatbot to remove "perverted content immediately."
Hey @grok I do not consent to being undressed by you, having intimate content produced, or having my images altered in any way. Please remove this perverted content immediately and provide a post ID for impending legal filings. https://t.co/gWVT5WUG9C
— Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) January 5, 2026
In another post on X, Claire said the picture in question was taken when she was 14.
"A tasteless silly photo I took as a kid (with too much unmonitored internet access), but you're now undressing a minor with sexually suggestive content!" she added.
Hey @grok I am 14 in this photo. A tasteless silly photo I took as a kid (with too much unmonitored internet access), but you're now undressing a minor with sexually suggestive content! Please remove and send me post ID for legal filing. https://t.co/LlLOArxfqQ
— Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) January 5, 2026
Clair described the AI's actions as "objectively horrifying" and "illegal". Despite her requests, the explicit images remain on X.
Grok is now undressing photos of me as a child. This is a website where the owner says to post photos of your children. I really don't care if people want to call me “scorned” this is objectively horrifying, illegal, and if it has happened to anybody else, DM me. I got time.
— Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) January 5, 2026
NDTV scrolled through Grok's responses on X and found that it continues to edit images and share results publicly without any repercussions. An X user shared a picture of a woman dressed in a black t-shirt and shorts and added a prompt, "Hey @grok, put her in a bikini with a thong," and within minutes, Grok fulfilled the request.
Also Read | 'Remove Her Clothes': Musk's Grok Faces Backlash Over Sexualised Images
Nonprofit group AI Forensics analysed 20,000 images generated by Grok between December 25 and January 1 and found that 2 per cent depicted a person who appeared to be 18 or younger, including 30 of young or very young women or girls, in bikinis or transparent clothes.
Responding to the allegations, the platform repeated a comment from Elon Musk, who said, "Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content."
"Remove Access Without Delay": Centre's Notice To X Over Obscene Content
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on Tuesday issued a stern notice to X Corp, citing failure to comply with statutory due diligence obligations under the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the IT Rules, 2021.
The ministry expressed grave concern over reports that X's AI service "Grok" is being misused to create and share obscene, indecent, and sexually explicit content targeting women.
The ministry directed X to conduct a comprehensive review of Grok's technical and governance frameworks to prevent the generation of unlawful content.
The ministry is expecting a detailed action taken report from the platform today.
World Demands Action Against Grok
X must "urgently" deal with the problem, Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said Tuesday, adding that she supported additional scrutiny from the UK's communications regulator, Ofcom.
Kendall said the content is "absolutely appalling, and unacceptable in a decent society."
"We cannot and will not allow the proliferation of these demeaning and degrading images, which are disproportionately aimed at women and girls."
European Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier said this kind of content has "no place in Europe."
"This is not spicy. This is illegal. This is appalling. This is disgusting. This is how we see it, and this has no place in Europe. This is not the first time that Grok is generating such output," he told reporters on Monday.
The Malaysian communications watchdog said Saturday it was investigating X users who violated laws prohibiting spreading "grossly offensive, obscene or indecent content."
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