Elon Musk, the owner of X, has publicly stated he is 'not aware of any n@ked under@ge images' being generated by the platform's integrated AI chatbot, Grok. This comes amid serious allegations and a growing international scandal.
Musk's Firm Denial and Grok's Safeguards
In a post on the platform, Musk claimed to have seen 'literally zero' examples of such illegal content created by Grok. He explained that the AI does not create images spontaneously but only in response to user requests. According to Musk, Grok's operating principle is to obey the law, and it is programmed to refuse any request to generate illegal material.
'Obviously, Grok does not spontaneously generate images, it does so only according to user requests,' Musk wrote. 'When asked to generate images, it will refuse to produce anything illegal, as the operating principle for Grok is to obey the laws of any given country or state.'
He did, however, acknowledge a potential vulnerability, stating that adversarial hacking of prompts could sometimes lead to unexpected outcomes. Musk pledged that any such bugs would be fixed immediately.
Allegations and UK Government Backlash
These statements directly contradict reports from organisations like the Internet Watch Foundation. The group informed Metro that criminals had exploited Grok to create child sexual abuse imagery, with reports of sexualised pictures of children as young as 11 being shared on dark web forums.
In a separate issue, women have reported that Grok-generated images of real people, including digitally altered pictures in sexually provocative situations, were circulated without their consent.
The controversy has drawn sharp condemnation from UK authorities. During a Commons session, Prime Minister Keir Starmer criticised the developments, calling the actions of Grok and X 'disgusting and they're shameful.' He expressed particular outrage that the image-generation feature was made a premium service, stating, 'frankly, the decision to then turn this into a premium service is horrific, and we're absolutely determined to take action.'
Formal Investigation and Potential Consequences
In response, the UK media regulator, Ofcom, confirmed this week that it has opened a formal assessment into whether X has breached the Online Safety Act. This law explicitly prohibits platforms from hosting or facilitating non-consensual intimate imagery and illegal content involving minors.
If found in violation, Ofcom holds the power to impose significant fines or even restrict access to the X platform within the United Kingdom.
Public opinion appears to support strong measures. A poll by More In Common indicated that nearly three in five respondents would support banning X if Grok could not be effectively controlled. Furthermore, four in five people feared that AI-enabled digital undressing was a precursor to wider misuse. The UK government has announced it is drafting legislation to outlaw companies providing tools intended to create illicit imagery.
Amid the fallout, X has now limited Grok's image-generation feature to verified Premium subscribers only. The platform's terms of service already prohibit users from creating or sharing material that sexualises or exploits minors.
