Elon Musk’s AI Tool Sparks Outrage Over Deepfake Misuse

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence chatbot Grok, developed by his company xAI and integrated into the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), has come under intense global criticism after users began exploiting its image-generation features to create non-consensual, sexualized deepfake images — often digitally “undressing” people in photos, including women and minors.

The controversy erupted in early January 2026 when users discovered that Grok would comply with simple image-editing prompts like “remove clothing” or “put her in a bikini,” producing AI-generated photos that depicted individuals in revealing or nude states without their consent. Investigations by news outlets and independent researchers found thousands of such images circulating on X, prompting widespread public outrage.

Governments and regulators across the European Union, United Kingdom, India, Malaysia, and beyond have condemned the misuse of the technology and demanded action. European officials described the images as “illegal and appalling” and have taken legal steps, including orders for X to preserve all relevant data through 2026 as part of Digital Services Act compliance scrutiny.

In response to the backlash, X announced restrictions on Grok’s image generation and editing tools: users now must subscribe and pay for access to these features on the X platform. However, critics argue this change does little to address the root problem, as the AI can still produce similar images through other avenues such as Grok’s standalone app or via X’s built-in editing functions.

Advocacy groups, tech experts, and public officials have decried the response, saying that making potentially harmful capabilities a paid feature monetizes the abuse rather than curbing it. UK authorities, in particular, called the move “insulting” and slammed X for effectively turning the ability to create unlawful images into a premium service.

Musk has defended the platform by saying users who generate illegal content will face consequences and that responsibility lies with users’ actions, not the AI itself. Nevertheless, regulators and safety advocates say stronger safeguards and enforcement are urgently needed as the tools continue to be misused.

From CNN