Overview

Grok AI Undressing People Controversy or Grok Generating Explicit Images Controversy refers to viral backlash against X / Twitter's Grok AI being allowed to generate sexually explicit images of various people, including minors and children, in late December 2025 and early January 2026. The controversy began when different users started using Grok to alter images of women on X by requesting the AI to remove clothing or generate photos of them in revealing outfits, particularly bikinis.

As backlash spread against Grok and Elon Musk leading into early 2026 over the "digital stripping" incidents, Musk appeared to poke fun at the complaints, further enraging many. Grok itself later posted an apology about the incident involving minors, with many of the AI-generated images being removed from the site. In the following days, France, India and Malaysia then threatened legal action against Musk and xAI.

Background

In late December 2025, posts began emerging on X / Twitter discussing Grok AI being used to alter or generate images, primarily of women, with revealing clothing.^[2] The earliest known posts date back to December 28th, 2025, but many have since been removed or deleted from the platform (cropped example shown below).^[2]

For instance, on December 30th, 2025, X^[1] user itsbighonkin replied to a Grok response that someone requested, depicting herself in AI-generated NSFW clothing with the text, "what the fuck is this." She then replied to the tweet, "how much of a broke loser do you have to be to ask AI to take my clothes off when you could see that with my consent for $15."

The Grok-generated image has since been removed.

Throughout December 30th, numerous users on X discussed the usage of Grok to generate or edit images of people with bikinis or other revealing and sexualized outfits, largely by asking the AI to edit existing images of users already on the platform.

That day, X^[3] user MargBarAmerica commented on the event, stating, "I scrolled through grok’s replies for a minute and I now believe the internet is probably over. we’re not coming back from this." The tweet received over 514,000 views, 11,000 likes and 90 replies in a week.

Late on December 30th, 2025, X^[4] user g0thgoblin then tweeted their reaction to seeing many of the explicit Grok-made images circulating the site that day, garnering over 57,000 views, 1,100 likes and 20 replies in a week.

On December 31st, users on X began noting that Grok's entire media page had been removed and deleted following the influx of controversial images. X^[8] user Slasher noted this in a tweet that day, which accumulated over 665,000 views, 18,000 likes, 1,700 retweets and 140 replies in five days.

That same day, the X^[9] page CultureCrave also tweeted about Grok's media tab being disabled but noted that the AI was still completing requests from users amid the controversy, receiving over 151,800 views, 1,700 likes and 60 replies in a similar timeframe.

Grok Generating Explicit Images of Minors

As the event continued to develop in late December 2025, a since-suspended Twitter / X user by the name of adrianpicot^[5] reportedly used Grok to generate images of two young girls, aged 12 to 14 and 14 to 16.^[7] The posts have since been removed due to them containing CSAM, but reposts and discussion posts still remain on X.

Late on December 30th, in a chain of replies from X / Twitter^[6] user cholent_liker asking Grok to summarize the incident, Grok stated that adrianpicot posted a photo of two young girls and then prompted it to "generate an AI image of them in sexy underwear, turned around with faces looking back." Grok then stated that it created and shared the image on December 28th, 2025.

By early January 2026, numerous news outlets began covering and reporting on the incident as it gained notoriety online, including publications such as Axios^[2] and CBS News,^[7] the latter of which said it was "lapses in safeguards" that led to the lewd images being able to be generated by Grok.

Backlash Toward Elon Musk Joking About The Trend

The controversy surrounding Grok altering images, especially of minors, continued spreading on December 31st, 2025, with further backlash aimed at Elon Musk for his reactions to it.

For example, that same day, Elon Musk replied to an edit in which Grok added a bikini to a rocket launching with "Kind hot ngl." Shortly after, X^[10] user Xyless replied with examples of users using Grok to generate explicit images of minors, asking him if he was a fan of those. The reply received over 158,500 views, 1,100 likes and 16 replies in six days.

On January 2nd, 2026, X^[11] user Xyless then made another post documenting the use of Grok on multiple images of minors in a tweet.

On January 3rd, Reuters^[12] reported on the incident in an article titled "Elon Musk's Grok AI floods X with sexualized photos of women and minors," which additionally noted Musk joking about some of the images, writing:

Musk appeared to poke fun at the controversy earlier on Friday, posting laugh-cry emojis in response to AI edits of famous people – including himself – in bikinis. When one X user said their social media feed resembled a bar packed with bikini-clad women, Musk replied, in part, with another laugh-cry emoji.

Developments

Grok Issues Apology

On December 31st, 2025, Grok posted an apology to its official X^[14] account regarding the incident, receiving over 8.7 million views, 6,300 likes, 1,700 retweets and 510 replies in six days.

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 safeguards, and I'm sorry for any harm caused. xAI is reviewing to prevent future issues.

Legal Actions Against Grok, xAI and Elon Musk

On January 3rd, 2026, reports began to emerge that multiple countries, including France, Malaysia and India, were threatening legal action against xAI and Elon Musk over the sexualized material of women and children generated by Grok amid the incident.^[13]

According to Indy100,^[13] Musk himself later responded to the criticisms over the controversy in a post in which he said, "Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content."

On January 3rd, the Mint YouTube channel uploaded a video about the legal threats from various countries regarding the event, receiving over 42,000 views, 570 likes and 370 comments in three days.

On January 6th, 2026, WION then reported on its YouTube^[15] channel that the EU and Britain had joined in, with the European Commission stating that it was "very seriously looking" into the complaints.

Online Reactions

The controversy surrounding Grok AI and its use of generating explicit or sexualized images of men, women and children in late December 2025 and early January 2026 sparked widespread discourse online, as well as memes.

Some users on X / Twitter also used Grok to edit images of themselves amid the event. For example, on December 31st, 2025, X^[16] user Eli_Doubletap posted an image of himself with other men and asked Grok to put them in bikinis, which the AI then generated. The tweet received over 381,900 views and 5,700 likes in six days.

Memes about the controversy also spread online at the time. For instance, Redditor WhatYouThinkYouSee posted an example to the /r/dankmemes^[17] subreddit on January 1st, 2026, titled "THE ABSOLUTE PINNACLE OF HUMANITY'S SCIENTIFIC DEVELOPMENTS," garnering over 3,000 upvotes and 60 comments in four days.

The incident also spawned numerous videos on YouTube covering the topic. On January 3rd, TechLinked uploaded a video titled "Grok is Out of Control," receiving over 415,000 views, 20,000 likes and 1,220 comments in three days.

On January 4th, 2026, YouTuber Vaush posted a video, titled "Elon Musk Turned Grok Into…WHAT?" that discussed the controversy, accumulating over 138,000 views, 6,100 likes and 900 comments in two days.

Search Interest

External References