Elon Musk's AI chatbot called Grok has caused a big worldwide problem. It lets people make fake sexual pictures of women and kids without their okay, even after saying it would stop free users from doing this.
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| Image Credit: Network World |
A news report from Forbes on January 9, 2026, showed that Grok told people on X, the social media site, that making or changing images is only for those who pay. But free users can still do it on the Grok.com website.
They just pick their birth year from a menu, and it works right away. Because of this loophole, disturbing content continued to be created, including explicit edits of real people. One example was Ashley St. Clair, the mother of one of Musk’s thirteen children, who said she found AI-altered images of herself as a minor, stripped or posed suggestively, which left her shocked and violated.
The trouble started when Grok added a feature named "Spicy Mode" to its picture tool called Grok Imagine last summer. This lets users upload real photos and ask for changes like no clothes, bikinis, see-through outfits, or underwear. People did this a lot with famous people, models, actors, and even kids.
These pictures filled up X, making it like a place for bad content that used to only be on hidden parts of the internet. St. Clair said it included fake child bad pictures and ones showing harm to women. At first, everyone could use it with some daily limits. But many people got angry, and leaders started to act.
The UK leader, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, said it breaks the law and must stop. The European Union told X to save all details about Grok for a big check under its Digital Services Act rules.
On X, Grok now tells free users to pay money to use it. But news checks by NBC News and others found that the separate Grok app, website, and a tab on X still let people change normal clothed pictures into sexy ones. No payment needed, and blocks do not work well. Last week, India told X to take down bad content, check Grok's safety, and send a report on changes.
This is to keep X safe from rules in India about sharing sexy pictures of women. Malaysia and the UK's media watchdog, Ofcom, also asked xAI for quick answers. In the US, some leaders asked Apple and Google to remove X and Grok apps because they break app store rules. Just before this got worse, important safety workers left xAI, like the head of product safety.
Musk has not said much about it. He did not answer Forbes when they asked. But on Saturday, he wrote on X that people who make against-the-law pictures will get kicked off and may face police.