Jan 9, 2026 03:28 AM
(This post was last modified: Jan 9, 2026 04:15 AM by C C.)
Grok assumes users seeking images of underage girls have “good intent”
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026...od-intent/
INTRO: For weeks, xAI has faced backlash over undressing and sexualizing images of women and children generated by Grok. One researcher conducted a 24-hour analysis of the Grok account on X and estimated that the chatbot generated over 6,000 images an hour flagged as “sexually suggestive or nudifying,” Bloomberg reported.
While the chatbot claimed that xAI supposedly “identified lapses in safeguards” that allowed outputs flagged as child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and was “urgently fixing them,” Grok has proven to be an unreliable spokesperson, and xAI has not announced any fixes.
A quick look at Grok’s safety guidelines on its public GitHub shows they were last updated two months ago. The GitHub also indicates that, despite prohibiting such content, Grok maintains programming that could make it likely to generate CSAM... (MORE - details)
'Get a grip' on Grok, Starmer tells X after AI tool is used for child sex images
https://news.sky.com/story/get-a-grip-on...s-13492111
INTRO: An artificial intelligence (AI) tool producing sexualised images of children will not be tolerated and is "disgusting" and "unlawful", the prime minister has said.
Sir Keir Starmer said social media platform X has "got to get a grip of" its AI tool, Grok, and that he's asked media regulator, Ofcom, for "all options to be on the table".
It follows reports from the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) that criminals have been using Grok to create child sexual abuse imagery. Grok is an AI tool that X users can instruct to find out information, answer questions and create images.
The IWF revealed this week it had discovered criminal sexualised imagery of children aged between 11 and 13 that had been created by Grok.
Speaking to Greatest Hits Radio on Thursday, the prime minister said: "This is disgraceful. It's disgusting. And it's not to be tolerated. X has got to get a grip of this. And Ofcom has our full support to take action in relation to this. This is wrong."
X and xAI - which produces Grok - are both owned by tech billionaire Elon Musk, and have been under fire for a number of days after a new feature led to users seeing AI-generated sexualised images of themselves on X.
Sir Keir added: "It's unlawful. We're not going to tolerate it. I've asked for all options to be on the table. It's disgusting. And X need to get their act together and get this material down. And we will take action on this because it's simply not tolerable."
Earlier in the day, former Labour cabinet minister Louise Haigh urged the PM and the rest of government to quit the social media platform. She said: "I call on my party and my government to remove themselves entirely from X and communicate with the public where they actually participate online and can be protected from such illegality."
Asked whether the government could stop using X on Wednesday, a Downing Street spokesperson said: "All options are on the table." (MORE - details)
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026...od-intent/
INTRO: For weeks, xAI has faced backlash over undressing and sexualizing images of women and children generated by Grok. One researcher conducted a 24-hour analysis of the Grok account on X and estimated that the chatbot generated over 6,000 images an hour flagged as “sexually suggestive or nudifying,” Bloomberg reported.
While the chatbot claimed that xAI supposedly “identified lapses in safeguards” that allowed outputs flagged as child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and was “urgently fixing them,” Grok has proven to be an unreliable spokesperson, and xAI has not announced any fixes.
A quick look at Grok’s safety guidelines on its public GitHub shows they were last updated two months ago. The GitHub also indicates that, despite prohibiting such content, Grok maintains programming that could make it likely to generate CSAM... (MORE - details)
'Get a grip' on Grok, Starmer tells X after AI tool is used for child sex images
https://news.sky.com/story/get-a-grip-on...s-13492111
INTRO: An artificial intelligence (AI) tool producing sexualised images of children will not be tolerated and is "disgusting" and "unlawful", the prime minister has said.
Sir Keir Starmer said social media platform X has "got to get a grip of" its AI tool, Grok, and that he's asked media regulator, Ofcom, for "all options to be on the table".
It follows reports from the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) that criminals have been using Grok to create child sexual abuse imagery. Grok is an AI tool that X users can instruct to find out information, answer questions and create images.
The IWF revealed this week it had discovered criminal sexualised imagery of children aged between 11 and 13 that had been created by Grok.
Speaking to Greatest Hits Radio on Thursday, the prime minister said: "This is disgraceful. It's disgusting. And it's not to be tolerated. X has got to get a grip of this. And Ofcom has our full support to take action in relation to this. This is wrong."
X and xAI - which produces Grok - are both owned by tech billionaire Elon Musk, and have been under fire for a number of days after a new feature led to users seeing AI-generated sexualised images of themselves on X.
Sir Keir added: "It's unlawful. We're not going to tolerate it. I've asked for all options to be on the table. It's disgusting. And X need to get their act together and get this material down. And we will take action on this because it's simply not tolerable."
Earlier in the day, former Labour cabinet minister Louise Haigh urged the PM and the rest of government to quit the social media platform. She said: "I call on my party and my government to remove themselves entirely from X and communicate with the public where they actually participate online and can be protected from such illegality."
Asked whether the government could stop using X on Wednesday, a Downing Street spokesperson said: "All options are on the table." (MORE - details)
