Cybercriminals claim they have used the Grok artificial intelligence tool to create sexual images of children, while a child safety watchdog has warned the technology risks making such material widespread.
The UK-based Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) reported that users of a dark web forum bragged about creating sexual and topless images of girls aged between 11 and 13.
IWF analysts said the images would be considered child sexual abuse material (CSAM) under UK law.
Elon Musk’s X has been flooded with images of naked women and children via Grok
“We can confirm that our analysts have discovered criminal images of children between the ages of 11 and 13 which appear to have been created using the tool,” said Ngaire Alexander, head of the IWF hotline, which investigates CSAM reports from members of the public.
X, Elon Musk’s social media platform, has been inundated with images of women and children whose clothes have been digitally removed by the Grok tool, prompting public outcry and condemnation from politicians.
The House of Commons women and equalities committee said it would no longer use X for its communications, saying it was no longer appropriate to do so as preventing violence against women and girls is one of its key policy areas.
The decision marks the first major move by a Westminster organization to withdraw from X in response to Grok’s abuse. Although the decision only concerned the committee’s account, some individual members, including Labor Party chair Sarah Owen, have already stopped using X.
Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine said she was leaving the platform, calling the images generated by Grok “the last straw”.
Immediate danger
“We are extremely concerned about the ease and speed with which people can apparently create photorealistic child sexual abuse material.
Tools like Grok are now at risk of bringing sexual AI imagery with children to the fore. This is unacceptable,” Alexander added.
Musk’s xAI, which owns Grok and X, was reached for comment.
Downing Street said “all options are open”, including a boycott of X, as ministers backed UK regulator Ofcom to take action.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “X needs to address this issue as a matter of urgency and Ofcom has our full support to take enforcement action where companies fail to protect UK users.
It already has the power to impose fines of up to billions of pounds and even cut off access to a website that breaks the law.”
Users demand more and more extreme content from the chatbot
Requests for Grok to edit images of women to “put them in bikinis” continue to flood X. Despite warnings of regulatory action from the EU and the UK, there was no indication that the platform had installed tighter security measures.
Photos of teenage girls continue to be digitally edited at the request of X users to show them in skimpy, revealing underwear or in sexually provocative poses.
Some users requested more extreme content, asking the chatbot to decorate bikinis with Nazi symbols or alter photos of women to look like victims of abuse. The chatbot responded by adding cigarette burns, facial bruises and blood to some images of women.
The UK’s data protection authority – the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – said it had contacted X and xAI “to seek clarification on the steps they have taken to comply with UK data protection law and protect the rights of individuals”, adding that people have “the right to use social media knowing that their personal data is being treated lawfully and with respect”.
X has said it takes action against illegal content, including child sexual abuse material, by “removing it, permanently suspending accounts and cooperating with local authorities and law enforcement as needed.”
With information from The Guardian.
