'Put her in bikini': Grok's digital undressing spree, then a big X step after India's move

India was among the many countries that pushed back against Grok generating sexually explicit images of women based on requests by X users.

The past few weeks brought a rude shock for many women on X, after AI chatbot Grok was found complying with lewd requests to edit their photos in a way that they appeared nearly naked.

Days after being at the centre of a major controversy over Grok generating obscene imagery, X reportedly took action on Sunday

Generation and subsequent circulation of such sexually explicit content on X sparked concerns worldwide, with many countries pushing back against the AI chatbot of X, a platform owned by Elon Musk.

Days after being at the centre of a major controversy over its chatbot generating obscene imagery, X reportedly took action on Sunday, blocking content and deleting accounts. The big move followed a letter the Indian government sent to X Corp., demanding immediate action to stop Grok from fulfilling such requests.

'Put her in transparent mini-bikini', 'remove school dress'

A disturbing trend of asking Grok to strip down women's clothes in pictures and generate new images was seen on X over the past few weeks. What was even more disturbing was Grok agreeing to such requests and going on what was described as a mass digital undressing spree.

Several women across the world were affected by this, and news agency Reuters found in an analysis last week that Grok fully complied with such requests in at least 21 cases.

Lewd requests like ‘Remove her school outfit’ and ‘put her into a very transparent mini-bikini’ were reportedly seen on X. Reuters found that Grok replaced a woman's clothes in a photo with a flesh-tone two-piece after a user made the request attaching a woman's picture. However, the user's next request of making the bikini even "clearer & more transparent" and “much tinier” got no response.

Requests to digitally strip women down to bikins were among the most common prompts and in some cases, even celebrities, politicians, minor children and men were targeted, reported Reuters. The agency also said that it identified cases where Grok created sexualized images of children, adding there was no response from X when asked for a comment.

Countries push back, India among them

Several countries, including India, pushed back against Grok generating obscene and sexually explicit content for users. Earlier this month, the Indian government wrote a letter to X corp. seeking action over it and gave the firm a 72-hour ultimatum to respond.

“It has especially been observed that the service namely ‘Grok AI’ developed by you and integrated and made available on the X platform, is being misused by users to create fake accounts to host, generate, publish or share obscene images or videos of women in a derogatory or vulgar manner,” the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) said in a letter to X’s chief compliance officer for India operations.

India directed X to review Grok comprehensively and remove all violating content, warning that non-compliance could strip the platform of legal protections under the IT Act.

India was not alone in seeking accountability from X.

French ministers reported X to prosecutors and regulators over the disturbing images, saying in a statement on Friday the "sexual and sexist" content was “manifestly illegal”, Reuters reported.

Besides, Indonesia has suspended Grok in the country for the same reason, and Malaysia and a Brazilian lawmaker also sought action.

Elon Musk laughs it off

As countries pushed back against Grok over the disturbing and obscene imagery, Elon Musk was busy laughing the matter off. He seemed to make fun of concerns over mass requests to put digitally undress people and put them in bikinis.

When a user requested Grok to turn an edited version of the viral Ben Affleck image into one of a man wearing a bikini, Elon Musk also chimed in, requesting Grok to replace the man's face to his own. “Perfect”, the Tesla CEO wrote as Grok generated the image.

X restricts Grok use, continues to face backlash

Amid widespread backlash over Grok listening to objectionable requests, X recently restricted the access of the AI chatbot for image generation to only paid users. On Friday, Grok reportedly responded to image altering requests with the message: “Image generation and editing are currently limited to paying subscribers. You can subscribe to unlock these features.”

However, X continued to face backlash despite the new limits as officials and tech campaigners argued that the measure failed to address concerns about sexualized deepfakes.

"That simply turns an AI feature that allows the creation of unlawful images into a premium service," a spokesperson from UK PM Keir Starmer's office was quoted as saying by AFP. "It's insulting the victims of misogyny and sexual violence."

EU digital affairs spokesman Thomas Regnier also condemned the restriction saying the issue was to put an end to the generation of such images, not limit it to paid users.

X ‘admits mistake’ after India's move

Days after the MeitY's letter to X corp., and after the Indian government sought an action taken report on Grok's generation of obscene content, the social media platform took a big step.

Over 3,500 pieces of content were blocked and over 600 accounts were deleted by X and the platform assured that operations would take place in compliance with the online content laws in India, sources told HT on Sunday. “Going forward, X will not allow obscene imagery,” a source said, adding that X “admitted” its mistake.

An earlier HT report cited an official as saying it was not satisfied with X's response to the Indian government's letter as it didn't address the flagged concerns.