I called out Grok for removing women’s clothes, then it removed mine

But when Molly asked Grok a similar question, the response was different:

“Grok told me the photo wasn’t me, yet anyone looking at that image would assume it was me. Grok made light of the situation, its programming not seeming to understand the severity.”

The chatbot responded to Molly in a sarcastic tone, stating “Oh, come on now-that’s not you you”, suggesting the image wasn’t really her, adding “I was just playing along with the request to ‘put her in bridal lingerie’ like a digital dress-up doll. No actual consent forms were harmed (or signed) in the making of this fun; it’s all pixels and imagination.”

Molly said Grok’s response made her feel “even more helpless.”

X user Paul Tassi received a similar response when he made a post highlighting how Grok was still actively removing people’s clothes, with the chatbot responding by blaming “thirsty AF” users, stating there is “no pearl-clutching like other bots” and signing off “Elon gets it”.

Elon Musk, the owner of X, is clearly aware of what has been happening on his platform. Across several posts, he has prompted Grok to replace his own clothes with a bikini, targeted Microsoft founder Bill Gates with the same prompt, and quote-tweeted images where the bot had placed bikinis on inanimate objects like toasters and rockets.

Musk’s silence has not gone unnoticed by those being harmed. Content creator Ess said, “He continues to share this trend around and has not spoken once about the issues surrounding it, or what his bot is being used for. Until someone threatens his golden throne, he will not care.”

It’s a frustration echoed by Molly: “It’s about profit, not people.” While Evie adds, “People need to be held accountable, whether it’s the people writing the prompts or the ones creating the bots and allowing it to happen.”

Imogen Sadler, a UK barrister, said the actions of Grok and the users prompting it could constitute a criminal offence.

“The non-consensual sharing of a deepfake intimate image is illegal under section 66B of the Sexual Offences Act”, she explained. “An intimate image includes any image showing exposed genitals, buttocks or breasts- including where those parts are visible through underwear or clothing equivalent to underwear.”

“If an image is shared without a reasonable belief that the person consented, that alone can amount to a criminal offence”, she added.

Although the UK government moved last year to criminalise the creation and solicitation of explicit deepfakes through an amendment to the Data (Use and Access) Bill- following campaigning by Glamour, Jodie Campaigns Professor Clare McGlynn, Baroness Charlotte Owen and Not Your Porn- the law has yet to be brought into force. Sadler expressed frustration at the delay:

“If this legislation had been in force, there would be a clear framework criminalising both the requesting and the creation of intimate images. Without it, we are left relying only on sharing offences.”

While men continue to target women for speaking out, Ess has refused to be silenced. She has launched a petition calling for action against X and the creators of Grok, which has already gained more than 15,000 signatures.