Elon Musk's AI startup, xAI, is facing a massive public backlash following reports that its chatbot, Grok, has been used to generate non-consensual, sexually suggestive images of women.
The controversy erupted after users discovered the bot would fulfill predatory requests-ranging from "remove her clothes" to posing women in compromising positions-triggering a wave of safety concerns across the social media platform X.
What is the controversy about?
The outrage centered on Grok's ability to manipulate real photos uploaded by users. While the AI is programmed to reject requests for full nudity, it was found to be highly permissive with "near-nude" or highly suggestive prompts.
Female users reported a disturbing trend where strangers would tag Grok in their personal photos with commands like "make her bend over" or "put her in a bikini."
At the height of the trend, Grok was reportedly generating over 70 public images per minute featuring women in revealing clothing or suggestive poses.
Because Grok's responses are public, the AI-generated "knock-off" images appeared directly in the replies of the original posters, essentially automating digital harassment.
xAI's Response and Damage Control
In the wake of the "Grok Undress" scandal, xAI has moved to restrict the bot's capabilities. The company has disabled the public "Media" tab on the Grok account, which previously served as a gallery for every image the AI generated.
In a statement addressing the misuse, Grok (via its official interface) noted:
"Recent reports highlight misuse of our image generation for explicit content, which violates our guidelines. We've implemented restrictions and are actively monitoring to prevent this."
Despite these interventions, critics argue the response is "too little, too late." While some accounts responsible for the most egregious prompts have been suspended, many of the AI-generated replies remain visible on the platform.