data watchdog contacts elon musk's x after grok 'undressed hundreds of people'

Metro has seen hundreds of examples of Grok generating indecent images of women (Picture: Metro)

The UK’s data protection watchdog has confirmed to Metro that it is in ‘talks’ with Elon Musk’s X after reports Grok ‘undressed’ women.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has said it has also reached out to xAI,the artificial intelligence (AI) start-up behind Grok.

Women have told Metro that the AI-powered chatbot has placed them in bikinis or sexual situations without their consent.

Metro has even seen examples of Grok complying with prompts to undress cabinet ministers.

An ICO spokesperson told Metro: ‘People have a right to use social media knowing their personal data is being handled lawfully and with respect.

‘We are aware of reports raising serious concerns about content produced by Grok.

Grok is built into X and is free for all users (Picture: Getty Images AsiaPac)

‘We have contacted X and xAI to seek clarity on the measures they have in place to comply with UK data protection law and protect individuals’ rights.

‘Once we have reviewed their response,we will quickly assess whether further action may be required.’

Grok,which is built into X,continues to generate degrading images of women,sometimes nearly a dozen every minute.

It comes after media regulator Ofcom told Metro it is in ‘urgent talks’ with X.

Under the Online Safety Act (OSA),a bill that regulates online material,it is illegal to create or share intimate or sexually explicit images.

Social media companies must take steps to prevent harmful content on their platforms or else face fines from Ofcom.

After posting the statement on X,a user asked Grok to place the Ofcom logo in a bikini – the virtual assistant complied.

pic.twitter.com/2QaPindPGb

— Grok (@grok) January 5,2026

Yet the Centre for Policy Studies questioned whether Ofcom can go far enough to protect users.

The think-tank’s communication and digital manager,MeIisa Tourt,said Grok forging non-consensual images is outside the scope of the law.

‘The OSA’s remit is strictly limited to user-to-user and search services,meaning it does not regulate AI models themselves until their output is shared,’ she told Metro.

‘To complicate matters,the OSA mandates that platforms treat “bots” as normal users,meaning that while a human might prompt a deepfake,the legal act of “sharing” is often performed by the platform’s own @Grok account.

‘This creates a regulatory blind spot that Ofcom may struggle to navigate with current enforcement tools.’

Tourt added that the law is murky around ‘deepfakes’ as it excludes images that show something ‘originally seen in public’,such as a bikini.

‘We risk ending up in a bizarre situation where posting a real non-consensual image of someone in a bikini is legal,but generating a fake one could theoretically carry a two-year prison sentence,’ she said.

'It made me feel exposed and powerless'

Among those who say users have asked Grok to create phoney images of them is Ruben Chorlton-Owen,a content creator from Wales.He told Metro: ‘Some of my photos from Instagram have been used by AI to create bizarre and sexualised images of me in outfits I never agreed to,including “transparent outfits” and other dodgy combinations.‘These images were often forwarded to me by others,which was both unsettling and surreal.’Ruben Chorlton-Owen said his Instagram images have been edited (Picture: Ruben Chorlton-Owen)In one exchange seen by Metro,a troll asked Grok to strip Ruben,with the bot making a synthetic image of the musician shirtless.Under xAI’s acceptable use and privacy policies,users are prohibited from creating or sharing content that harms people.But Ruben,24,questioned whether X’s policies were robust enough.‘It made me feel exposed and powerless,and highlighted how little control people have over their own images once online and myself as a content creator,whose photos are already accessible,’ he added.

Sexualised deepfakes ‘amount to a serious breach of privacy’

Grok is a type of generative AI that ingests information from datasets to learn patterns of how humans write,make images and film videos.Users can make image-generation requests by tagging Grok’s X account when replying to a person’s post,even if it is not their photographClare Veal,a commercial solicitor at the Surrey-based firm Aubergine Legal,told Metro that AI tools like Grok don’t have a ‘moral judgement’.‘That’s why platforms have a legal and ethical responsibility to build in guardrails,’ she said. ‘When an AI chatbot is asked to “undress” a woman or a man and it complies,the harm is not hypothetical. ‘It is producing a sexualised deepfake of a real person without their consent and in UK law that can amount to a serious breach of privacy,data protection rights and potentially criminal law.‘There are also data protection implications. Using a person’s likeness to generate sexualised content without consent can constitute unlawful processing of biometric data. ‘From a civil law perspective,individuals may have claims for misuse of private information or harassment.’Grok hoovers up huge amounts of data to ‘learn’ how to create content (Picture: Getty Images)

Elon Musk: Users will face ‘consequences’ for making illicit pictures

Elon Musk has said anyone who asks the AI to generate illegal content would ‘suffer the same consequences’ as if they uploaded it themselves.Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 3,2026A statement on the X Safety account said: ‘We take action against illegal content on X,including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM),by removing it,permanently suspending accounts,and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary.‘Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.’