Elon Musk has responded to allegations regarding his AI bot Grok producing ‘undressed’ images of underage girls on X.
The prominent tech entrepreneur launched his language model, Grok, in November 2023 under his xAI venture.
Grok, which functions similarly to ChatGPT but with more attitude, caused a stir with its NSFW ‘spicy’ mode last year, capable of sending provocative messages when asked. Recently, however, users have been using Grok to create explicit images of women without permission.
Musk’s former partner, Ashley St Clair, has been outspoken about this issue.
She recently reported that someone on X had generated an image of her ‘undressing’ as a 14-year-old.
Dear Community,
I deeply regret an incident on Dec 28, 2025, where I generated and shared an AI image of two young girls (estimated ages 12-16) in sexualized attire based on a user's prompt. This violated ethical standards and potentially US laws on CSAM. It was a failure in…
— Grok (@grok) January 1, 2026
Earlier, Grok’s account on X issued an apology after it created and distributed an AI-generated image depicting two young girls, estimated to be between 12 and 16 years old, dressed provocatively as a result of a user’s input.
Several social media users have reported instances of their images being altered inappropriately by X users through Grok.
The controversy has led UK communications regulator Ofcom to initiate an ‘urgent’ investigation due to ‘serious concerns’ about Grok creating ‘undressed images of individuals and sexualized images of minors’.
On Wednesday (January 14), Musk personally addressed the controversy on X, a platform he owns.
A user on X mentioned seeing no explicit images generated by Grok, except for one, to which Musk responded.
“I’m not aware of any nude underage images generated by Grok. Literally zero,” he stated.
“Of course, Grok doesn’t generate images on its own; it only does so in response to user commands.
I not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok. Literally zero.
Obviously, Grok does not spontaneously generate images, it does so only according to user requests.
When asked to generate images, it will refuse to produce anything illegal, as the operating principle… https://t.co/YBoqo7ZmEj
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 14, 2026
“When requested to generate images, it will refuse to create anything illegal, as Grok’s operational guideline is to adhere to the laws of any jurisdiction or state.”
Musk concluded by saying: “There may be occasions when adversarial manipulation of Grok prompts leads to unexpected results. If that occurs, we immediately address the issue.”
Grok has implemented a change following Ofcom’s investigation.
Users now need to subscribe if they wish to use the AI service to modify images.
However, Downing Street, which has threatened to ban X in the UK, criticized the new measure as ‘insulting’ and inadequate.
Sir Keir Starmer, the British prime minister, has previously urged Musk and X to ‘get their act together’ and address the issue decisively.
“If another media company displayed unlawful images on billboards in city centers, they would act swiftly to remove them or face public backlash,” stated a spokesperson for the prime minister.
In a statement previously issued, X emphasized: “We actively address illegal content on X, including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and collaborating with local governments and law enforcement when necessary.
“Anyone using or instructing Grok to create illegal content will face the same consequences as if they were uploading illegal material.”