Elon Musk’s Grok AI under Ofcom investigation after undressing thousands of women

Ofcom has launched an investigation into Elon Musk‘s Grok after X‘s AI-powered chatbot generated sexualised images of women.

The media regulator is considering whether the social media network has broken the law.

It said today: ‘There have been deeply concerning reports of the Grok AI chatbot account on X being used to create and share undressed images of people, which may amount to intimate image abuse or pornography, and sexualised images of children that may amount to child sexual abuse material.’

Under the Online Safety Act, Ofcom has the power to effectively ban X in the UK or issue a fine of up to 10% of its worldwide revenue, or £18 million.

Elon Musk previously said the government ‘want any excuse for censorship’.

Why is Ofcom investigating Grok?

For the last few weeks, Grok has created thousands of images of real women in lingerie or bikinis as well as sexualised images of children.

Metro has spoken with women who say users asked Grok to dress them in revealing garments, remove their clothes or pose them in suggestive ways.

Some users have prompted X’s built-in virtual assistant to strip cabinet ministers to a bikini, Metro revealed last week.

Governments worldwide have criticised the bot’s actions, with Indonesia and Malaysia blocking access to X altogether.

Sir Keir Starmer has asked Ofcom to have ‘all options on the table’ to rein in the ‘disgusting’ nearly nude images of people.

Yet Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader and one of X’s most prolific users, said the party does not support Grok’s ability to digitally undress people.

But he added: ‘My fear is we’ll end up suppressing Grok and further suppressing free speech and we do not want to do that.’

Ofcom announced last week that it had given X and xAI, the AI start-up behind Grok, until Friday to ‘explain themselves’.

The regulator is discussing whether there is a risk that British social media users may see illegal content and whether X is taking steps to prevent this.

Such illegal material includes ‘non-consensual intimate images’ and child sexual imagery, Ofcom said.

'It made me feel exposed and powerless'

Among those who say users have asked Grok to create phoney images of them is Ruben Chorlton-Owen, a content creator from Wales.

He told Metro: ‘Some of my photos from Instagram have been used by AI to create bizarre and sexualised images of me in outfits I never agreed to, including “transparent outfits” and other dodgy combinations.’

In one exchange seen by Metro, a troll asked Grok to strip Ruben, with the bot making a synthetic image of the musician shirtless.

Under xAI’s acceptable use and privacy policies, users are prohibited from creating or sharing content that harms people.

But Ruben, 24, questioned whether X’s policies were robust enough.

‘It made me feel exposed and powerless, and highlighted how little control people have over their own images once online and myself as a content creator, whose photos are already accessible,’ he added.

Social media platforms must proactively screen for objectionable material and judge whether it is illegal.

Ofcom’s data protection counterpart also told Metro that it was in talks with X amid privacy concerns from legal experts.

The Internet Media Watch said it has seen altered images of children on X.

All X users were previously able to ask Grok to edit or create images on the platform by tagging the @grok account.

However, the Grok account began limiting requests for fake images to X subscribers who pay for specific premium features starting Thursday.

Although users can still make requests by using the app’s ‘edit image’ button, the private Grok tab on X, or the bot’s video creator, Grok Imagine.

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