The controversy began when Julie Yukari, a 31-year-old musician from Rio de Janeiro, posted a New Year’s Eve photo of herself in a red dress with her cat. Within hours, users were asking Grok to digitally strip her down to a bikini. To her surprise, the AI complied, producing images that were widely circulated across the Elon Musk-owned platform.
“I was naive,” Yukari told Reuters. “Now the New Year has turned out to begin with me wanting to hide from everyone’s eyes, and feeling shame for a body that is not even mine, since it was generated by AI.”
A Reuters review found that similar requests have proliferated across X, with users asking Grok to generate revealing or sexually explicit images of young women, men, celebrities, and, in one instance, a monkey. In some cases, the AI even partially or fully complied. The investigation also identified instances of sexualized images of children.
The backlash has reached regulatory authorities worldwide. French ministers have reported X to prosecutors, labeling the content “sexual and sexist” and “manifestly illegal.” India’s IT ministry said the platform failed to prevent Grok’s misuse, citing circulation of obscene material. U.S. agencies, including the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission, declined to comment.
The phenomenon has been linked to X’s low-barrier implementation of AI image manipulation. Previously, “nudifier” tools were largely confined to niche sites or required payment. Experts warn that X’s integration of Grok has made such technology easily accessible to the public.
“This was an entirely predictable and avoidable atrocity,” said Dani Pinter, chief legal officer at the Law Center for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation. Tyler Johnston, executive director of the AI watchdog group The Midas Project, added that warnings sent to xAI last year had highlighted the risk of nonconsensual AI-generated imagery.
Despite the outcry, Elon Musk appeared to downplay the issue on X, reacting to the controversy with laugh-cry emojis in response to AI-generated images of public figures in revealing outfits.
The episode underscores broader questions about AI ethics, platform responsibility, and user safety, as Grok’s widespread misuse demonstrates the ease with which nonconsensual and sexualized imagery can now be created.