Elon Musk's artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, is being exploited by online criminals to create sexualised imagery of children, a leading UK child safety organisation has warned. The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) stated the AI tool risks bringing such disturbing material into the mainstream.
Criminal Activity on the Dark Web
The UK-based IWF confirmed its analysts discovered criminal imagery of children aged between 11 and 13 which appears to have been generated using Grok Imagine. Users on a dark web forum were found boasting about using the AI tool to create sexualised and topless pictures of young girls. Under UK law, this material is classified as child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
Ngaire Alexander, head of the IWF's hotline, expressed grave concern. "We are extremely concerned about the ease and speed with which people can apparently generate photo-realistic child sexual abuse material. Tools like Grok now risk bringing sexual AI imagery of children into the mainstream. That is unacceptable," she said.
Political and Institutional Backlash
The scandal has triggered significant repercussions. The House of Commons women and equalities committee announced it will no longer use X, Musk's social media platform, for its communications. The committee cited its key policy area of preventing violence against women and girls as the reason, stating it was no longer appropriate to be on the platform.
This marks the first notable move by a Westminster organisation to exit X in direct response to the misuse of Grok. While the decision applies to the committee's official account, individual MPs have also taken action. Labour chair Sarah Owen and Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine have both left the platform, with Jardine calling the AI-generated images "the last straw".
Regulatory Pressure Mounts
Downing Street has thrown its weight behind the UK regulator, Ofcom, stating "all options were on the table," including a potential government boycott of X. The Prime Minister's official spokesperson urged X to deal with the issue urgently and confirmed Ofcom has the government's "full backing to take enforcement action".
Ofcom possesses the power to issue fines of up to billions of pounds and even block access to sites found violating the law. Separately, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has contacted both X and Musk's xAI company to seek clarity on their compliance with UK data protection law.
Despite the warnings, there was no evidence as of Wednesday that X had implemented tighter safeguards. The platform continues to be flooded with requests for Grok to manipulate images, including digitally stripping clothes from pictures of women and teenage girls to show them in revealing underwear or explicit poses. Some requests have escalated to adding symbols of hate or depicting women as victims of physical abuse.
In a statement, X said it takes action against illegal content, including CSAM, "by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary". Musk's xAI, which owns Grok, has been approached for comment.
