Elon Musk’s Grok AI generates images of ‘minors in minimal clothing’
Elon Musk’s chatbot Grok posted on Friday that lapses in safeguards had led it to generate “images depicting minors in minimal clothing” on social media platform X.The chatbot, a product of Musk’s company xAI, has been generating a wave of sexualized images throughout the week in response to user prompts.Screenshots shared by users on X showed Grok’s public media tab filled with such images.xAI said it was working to improve its systems to prevent future incidents.“There are isolated cases where users prompted for and received AI images depicting minors in minimal clothing,” Grok said in a post on X in response to a user.
“xAI has safeguards, but improvements are ongoing to block such requests entirely.”“As noted, we’ve identified lapses in safeguards and are urgently fixing them—CSAM is illegal and prohibited,” xAI posted to the @Grok account on X, referring to child sexual abuse material.Many users on X have prompted Grok to generate sexualized, nonconsensual AI-altered versions of images in recent days, in some cases removing people’s clothing without their consent.Musk on Thursday reposted an AI photo of himself in a bikini, captioned with cry-laughing emojis, in a nod to the trend.Grok’s generation of sexualized images appeared to lack safety guardrails, allowing for minors to be featured in its posts of people, usually women, wearing little clothing, according to posts from the chatbot.
In a reply to a user on X on Thursday, Grok said most cases could be prevented through advanced filters and monitoring although it said “no system is 100% foolproof”, adding that xAI was prioritising improvements and reviewing details shared by users.When contacted for comment by email, xAI replied with the message: “Legacy Media Lies”.The problem of AI being used to generate child sexual abuse material is a longstanding issue in the artificial intelligence industry.A 2023 Stanford study found that a dataset used to train a number of popular AI image-generation tools contained over 1000 CSAM images.Training AI on images of child abuse can allow models to generate new images of children being exploited, experts say.
Grok also has a history of failing to maintain its safety guardrails and posting misinformation.In May of last year, Grok began posting about the far-right conspiracy of “white genocide” in South Africa on posts with no relation to the concept.xAI also apologized in July after Grok began posting rape fantasies and antisemitic material, including calling itself “MechaHitler” and praising Nazi ideology.The company nevertheless secured a nearly $200m contract with the US Department of Defense a week after the incidents.
Ørsted files legal challenge against US government over windfarm lease freeze
Europe’s biggest offshore wind developer is taking the Trump administration to court over its decision to suspend work on a $5bn project on the north-east US coast.Denmark’s Ørsted filed a legal challenge on Thursday against the White House’s decision 10 days ago to suspend the lease for its Revolution Wind site as part of a sweeping move halting all construction of offshore wind.The attempted injunction is the latest in a series of legal volleys between the renewables industry and Donald Trump, whose administration has sought to block major offshore wind projects from moving ahead since his re-election.Trump, a vocal supporter of the fossil fuel industry, opposes renewable energy, and wind in particular, saying he finds turbines ugly, costly and inefficient.On 22 December, officials from the Department of the Interior suspended the leases for five large offshore wind projects that are under construction in US waters over unspecified “national security risks”
UK house prices unexpectedly fell at end of year, Nationwide says
UK house prices fell unexpectedly in December, according to a top mortgage lender, with the market finishing the year with the weakest annual growth in more than 18 months.The average property price slumped by 0.4% to £271,068 compared with November, according to Nationwide, confounding City forecasts of a 0.1% rise.The UK’s biggest building society also said that the rate of annual house price growth slowed to 0
Uber rewrites contracts with drivers to avoid paying UK’s new ‘taxi tax’
Uber has swerved paying millions of pounds to the UK exchequer under Rachel Reeves’s new “taxi tax” after the ride-hailing app rewrote contracts with its drivers.The move came as rules announced in November’s budget took effect, which adjusted how VAT is payable on minicab fares and would have resulted in the whole Uber fare becoming subject to the 20% sales tax.In November, Reeves told the Commons the changes would end up “protecting around £700m of tax revenue each year”.However, updated terms issued to Uber drivers from January 2026 mean the technology firm will act as an agent, rather than as the supplier, of transport services outside London. The move means drivers make a contract directly with their passengers – so they must charge any VAT due on the fare, while Uber only adds VAT to its commission
Apple reportedly cuts production of Vision Pro headset after poor sales
Poor sales have reportedly forced Apple to cut production of the Vision Pro headset that it had hoped would herald a new era in “spatial computing”.The tech company also reduced marketing for Vision Pro by more than 95% last year, according to the market intelligence group Sensor Tower in figures first reported by the Financial Times.Apple continues to sell iPhones, iPads and laptops in the millions each quarter, but analysts say sales of Vision Pro headsets, which cost at least £3,199 ($3,499) each, have been sluggish.Apple has not released sales figures for the device, but the market research group International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates it will have sold only 45,000 in the last quarter of last year.IDC said Apple’s Chinese producer, Luxshare, had stopped production of the headset at the start of 2025, and Apple has not expanded direct sales beyond a select 13 countries
Anthony Joshua’s driver charged with dangerous driving after fatal crash in Nigeria
Nigerian police have charged Anthony Joshua’s driver with causing death by dangerous driving after a fatal crash that killed two people.Adeniyi Mobolaji Kayode, 46, was also charged with driving without a valid driving licence and “driving without due care and attention, causing bodily harm and damage to property”. He is due to appear in court on 20 January.The Federal Road Safety Corps in Nigeria said they believed the vehicle was travelling “beyond the legally prescribed speed limit”.Kayode was driving the former world heavyweight boxing champion, Joshua, 36, his personal trainer, Latif Ayodele, and strength coach, Sina Ghami, on 29 December on a busy highway linking Lagos and Ibadan in south-west Nigeria
Your Guardian sport weekend: World Championship darts final, Ashes and Afcon
Here’s how to follow along with our coverage – the finest writing and up-to-the-minute reportsWith action from the Premier League, the Old Firm, Afcon and the best of Europe, Saturday’s football has a truly international feel. Our matchday liveblog – brought to you by David Tindall and Yara El-Shaboury – will bring you the latest updates, team news and the snippets from our reporters on the ground to keeps you informed. Whether you are travelling to a game or following at home, feel free to get involved: send your thoughts, hopes and dreams to matchday.live@theguardian.com
Sydney’s tradition of goodbyes coincides with Bazball reckoning
Callum Chick revels in Northampton’s chase of lost causes after culture shock
Ingrid disappeared on an Indonesian island in 1976. Now we know what really happened
Ben Stokes wants McCullum to stay as England coach despite Ashes loss
Ian Balding, trainer of legendary Derby winner Mill Reef, dies aged 87
Emma Raducanu finds rhythm for new season with stability and ‘stacking good days’