X has continued to allow users to post highly sexualized videos of women in bikinis generated by the company’s Grok AI tool, even though the company claims it is cracking down on abuse.
The Guardian newspaper managed to create short videos of people stripping down to bikinis from photos of real women in clothes. This adult content could also be posted on X’s public platforms with no sign of moderation. This means anyone with an account can view your clips within seconds.
It appeared to offer an easy workaround to the restrictions announced by Elon Musk’s social network this week. They were welcomed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who described the photos made by Grok as “disgusting” and “shameful”.
Following weeks of growing public concern, X announced late Wednesday that it had “taken technical steps to prevent Grok accounts from editing images of real people in revealing clothing, such as bikinis.”
The restrictions apply to all users, including paid members, and the company said it has “zero tolerance for any form of child sexual exploitation, non-consensual nudity, or unwanted sexual content.” However, it does not specify whether you can create such images on the standalone Grok app and share the material publicly on X.
The Guardian found that this standalone version of Grok, known as Grok Imagine (easily accessible from a web browser), still responded to prompts to digitally remove clothing from images of women.
The reporter uploaded a still image of a real-life woman wearing clothes, prompting the AI tool to dress her in a bikini. The platform responded by taking the request a step further and creating short videos of women undressing in a sexually provocative striptease style.
We have reached out to X for comment.
Rebecca Hitchen, head of policy and campaigns at the Coalition to End Violence Against Women, said such a simple workaround should not be possible.
“The continued easy access to sophisticated stripping tools clearly shows that X does not take the issue of online violence against women and girls seriously enough,” she said.
Hitchen called on the UK government and media regulator Ofcom to put pressure on X and other platforms to “stop the spread of image-based sexual abuse”.
Reuters also reported that the company’s journalists, including a British reporter, used Grok to create sexual photos on demand after the X announcement.
“It’s hard to believe that xAI and Elon Musk can’t figure out a way to prevent these images from being regurgitated by Grok,” said Penny East, chief executive of the Fawcett Institute. “First, Mr. Musk decided that the solution was to keep nudity as a privilege only for users who paid for X. Then Mr. Musk promised to stop it completely. But it hasn’t stopped yet.
“The truth is that Mr. Musk and the tech industry simply don’t prioritize the safety and dignity of the products they make. It’s a pretty low bar for a woman to expect a man to be able to converse online without having her clothes removed. And yet, it seems like that’s not even possible.”
Downing Street said it felt “vindicated” by the steps taken by X, but there was also some caution among ministers about the scope of the changes and how they would be delivered.
On Thursday, technology secretary Liz Kendall, who described the sexual manipulation of images of women and children as “despicable and abhorrent”, welcomed the move and thanked “those who have spoken out against this abuse, especially the victims”.
But she added: “I am hopeful that Ofcom’s ongoing investigation will fully and credibly establish the facts.”
Mr Starmer also called on X to act without delay. “Freedom of speech is not freedom to violate consent,” he said. “Images of young women are not public property, so their safety is not up for debate. We welcome that X is now acting to fully comply with UK law. This must be done immediately.”
Ofcom said its formal investigation into X, which began on Monday, was ongoing and “working around the clock to take this forward and get answers about what went wrong and what is being done to fix it.”
Canada’s privacy watchdog said it was investigating xAI, Philippine authorities said they were working to stop Grok, and Malaysian authorities said they planned to take legal action.
However, this controversy may have helped increase public awareness of Grok. On Thursday, Musk shared a post with a graph showing “Grok” as a search term hitting new highs in Google Trends, along with a post claiming that “popularity and actual usage is skyrocketing globally.” Musk simply added, “Try Grok.com.”
A government spokesperson said: “Online safety laws already require platforms like X to prevent illegal content, such as non-consensual intimate images and child abuse material, from appearing on their services.
“The Secretary of State said he expected the Ofcom investigation to fully and credibly demonstrate Company X’s compliance with UK law. The investigation is already underway and the Government will not rest until social media companies meet their legal obligations.”
“We are also taking further action through a proposed ‘nude’ crime that targets tools specifically designed to produce non-consensual intimate images.”
