Elon Musk has said he is “not aware” of any sexualised images of minors being generated by Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot integrated into the social media platform X, amid growing concerns over the misuse of generative AI tools.
In a post on X, Musk said he had seen “literally zero” examples of illegal content involving children produced by the chatbot. He stressed that Grok does not generate images on its own initiative but responds only to user prompts.
“Obviously, Grok does not spontaneously generate images; it does so only according to user requests,” Musk wrote. “When asked to generate images, it will refuse to produce anything illegal, as the operating principle for Grok is to obey the laws of any given country or state.”
He acknowledged, however, that attempts to exploit the system through so-called adversarial prompts could sometimes lead to unintended outcomes. According to him, any such issues are treated as bugs and fixed immediately once identified.
X’s terms of service explicitly prohibit users from creating or sharing content that sexualises or exploits minors. Despite this, the Internet Watch Foundation has previously warned that criminals have used generative AI tools, including Grok, to create child sexual abuse material, with some content allegedly shared on dark web forums.
Beyond concerns involving minors, reports have also emerged of Grok-generated images depicting real individuals, particularly women, in sexually explicit or suggestive scenarios without their consent, raising broader questions about privacy and digital abuse.
In response to the controversy, X has restricted Grok’s image-generation feature, making it available only to verified Premium subscribers.
The issue has drawn strong political reactions in the United Kingdom. Prime Minister Keir Starmer criticised the situation during a session of the House of Commons, describing the alleged misuse of the technology as “disgusting” and “shameful,” and condemning the decision to monetise access to the tool.
UK media regulator Ofcom has confirmed that it has opened a formal assessment into whether X has breached the Online Safety Act, which prohibits platforms from hosting or facilitating illegal content involving minors or non-consensual intimate imagery. If violations are established, the regulator has the power to impose heavy fines or restrict access to the platform in the UK.
Public concern also appears to be rising. A poll published by research group More In Common found that nearly three in five respondents would support banning X if the risks posed by Grok could not be effectively managed, while a large majority expressed fears that AI-generated image manipulation could lead to wider abuse.
Meanwhile, the UK government has said it is working on new legislation aimed at criminalising the provision of tools designed to create illicit or exploitative imagery, as authorities worldwide grapple with the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence technologies.