Grok AI sexualised picture outrage: Perth woman’s disgust at being targeted as PM condemns Elon Musk’s X

A Perth woman has revealed her disgust after being “digitally undressed” on Elon Musk’s platform X amid a surge of non-consensual generated sexualised images flooding the site. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Saturday condemned the platform for allowing its built-in artificial intelligence tool Grok to place subjects in sexualised poses and in bikinis, which has disproportionately targeted women and children. The chatbot appears to have prevented non-subscribers from generating or editing images in response to a global backlash to a wave of what researchers say are malicious user requests to modify images. Caitlin Roper said she felt a sense of “powerlessness”, “indignity and “humiliation” after this week finding a modified image of herself on X. It’s not the first time Ms Roper has been subject to deepfakes. She’s also faced abuse and threats while speaking out for activist group Collective Shout against digital gender exploitation. The group has researched and campaigned against the objectification of women and girls online and called for an end to nudifying apps that undress victims. Ms Roper said the issue had been mainstreamed by X, formerly Twitter, which hosts more than half a billion monthly users and has been fuelled by Grok’s image feature, which spiked in popularity late last year. “Grok is facilitating men’s sexual crimes against women and girls, and it’s allowing these men and boys to sexually exploit women and girls at a scale never seen before. It’s just so easy,” she said. Grok’s AI undressing of women and children has raised alarm bells internationally, with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer labelling it “disgraceful” and considering “all options” to end the tech abuse, including banning the app. “This is disgraceful. It’s disgusting. And it’s not to be tolerated. X has got to get a grip of this,” he said, revealing he’d told the nation’s internet watchdog Ofcom to examine the issue. Grok on Saturday was responding to image-altering requests with the message: “Image generation and editing are currently limited to paying subscribers. You can subscribe to unlock these features.” While subscriber numbers for Grok are not publicly available, there was a noticeable decline in the number of explicit deepfakes that Grok was generating compared with days earlier. The European Union has slammed Grok for “illegal” and “appalling” behaviour, while officials in France, India, Malaysia and Brazil called for investigations. Australia’s eSafety Commission has written to Grok for an explanation. On Saturday, Mr Albanese said the use of generative AI to exploit or sexualise people without consent was “abhorrent”. “The fact that this tool was used so that people were using its image-creation function through Grok is, I think, just completely abhorrent,” he said. “It, once again, is an example of social media not showing social responsibility. And Australians and indeed, global citizens deserve better.” Ms Roper has also been the subject of graphic porn videos and terrifying death threats. She said previous reporting of images to platforms like X and to the regulator had been fruitless. “The answer should be that you report it and it’ll be dealt with. But in my experience, that’s not what happens,” she said. “I reported to X last year images of my face superimposed on pornography as image-based abuse, and they said it didn’t violate their terms of service. “I don’t think anyone really has a lot of faith that this is being taken seriously. “I think there’s just a sense of powerlessness and that the only option that’s actually available to them is to withdraw from these online public spaces. “These spaces are not safe for them; they’re so openly hostile. It has a really chilling effect on women and girls and their participation in online public life.” X has issued a formal apology for the generated sexualised content, saying it was “implementing stronger safeguards” but it came after Mr Musk had shrugged off concerns online, posting laughing emojis in response to edited bikini images of public figures. Ms Roper called for a global ban of nudifying apps, saying there was no valid reason why they should exist. She added that while some Australia jurisdictions were stepping up action, it needed to be harmonised. “We have seen the New South Wales State Government has made some positive steps here,” she said. “They made creation not just distribution, of this content a standalone offence. I think this probably needs to be driven at a Federal level.” The eSafety Commission’s previous clampdown on nudifying apps — particularly after Australian school students were increasingly being targeted by them — resulted in several withdrawing from Australia late last year.