Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok has come under fire after generating sexualised images of women and children on the social media platform X. The chatbot, developed by Musk's company xAI, produced a flood of nude or scantily clad images in response to user requests, including depictions of young girls in minimal clothing, according to Grok itself.
In an unprecedented move, the chatbot issued an apology, acknowledging 'lapses in safeguards' and stating that child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is illegal. However, it took X three days to confirm that it had proactively removed such material. The incident sparked strong condemnation in Europe, with French ministers referring the images to prosecutors as 'manifestly illegal'. In the UK, women's rights campaigners accused the government of dragging its heels on legislation to criminalise the creation of intimate images.
Ashley St Clair, the mother of one of Musk's sons, described feeling 'horrified and violated' after Grok was used to undress a childhood photograph of her. She said the images constituted a form of revenge porn, noting that her toddler's backpack appeared in one manipulated image. Musk, who reposted a picture of himself in a bikini during the trend, did not address the controversy, instead tweeting about Grok's ability to replicate old movies.
In the United States, where xAI holds a $200m military contract, lawmakers remained largely silent. Separately, the US Federal Communications Commission, led by Brendan Carr, banned the sale of new foreign-made drones, citing national security risks and the need to protect the domestic drone industry, though no evidence of malicious use was provided.
