In December, Elon Musk’s AI chatbot ‘Grok’ rolled out a new image-editing feature on his social media site, X. It didn’t take long for users to exploit it, digitally undressing women and girls and spreading non-consensual deepfakes. But while a governmental backlash in the UK is growing, these photos are still flooding in. So how is this legal? And are we finally reaching a moment where the harms of AI can’t be brushed aside?

Update: As of this morning (9/1), X has disabled Grok’s image generation tool for non-subscribers. Grok wrote in a reply that this was done “to ensure responsible use and address recent concerns about misuse for inappropriate content.”

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Guests:

Emma Yeomans, news reporter, The Times.
Chris Stokel-Walker, tech journalist and author.
Samantha Smith, columnist at The Catholic Herald.

Host: Manveen Rana.

Producers: Sophie McNulty, Harry Stott.

Read more: Elon Musk’s AI undressing tool on Grok could be banned

Further listening: Is 2026 the year of the AI backlash?

Clips: NBC News, Fox News.

Photo: Getty Images.

Get in touch: thestory@thetimes.com

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