Grok’s deepfake images which ‘digitally undress’ women investigated by Australia’s online safety watchdog
Australia’s online safety watchdog is investigating sexualised deepfake images posted on X by its AI tool Grok.Elon Musk’s X has faced a global backlash since Grok began generating sexualised images of women and girls without their consent in response to requests for it to undress them.Ashley St Clair, the estranged mother of one of Musk’s children, said she had no response to her complaints about being digitally undressed.“I felt horrified, I felt violated, especially seeing my toddler’s backpack in the back of it,” she said this week.The fake images included one of a 12-year-old girl in a bikini.
The Grok tool issued an ‘apology’ when prompted but continues to generate the deepfakes.eSafety Australia said it was investigating images of adults but that the images of children did not, at this point, meet the threshold for child sexual exploitation material.“Since late 2025, eSafety has received several reports relating to the use of Grok to generate sexualised images without consent,” an eSafety spokesperson said.“Some reports relate to images of adults, which are assessed under our image-based abuse scheme, while others relate to potential child sexual exploitation material, which are assessed under our illegal and restricted content scheme.“The image-based abuse reports were received very recently and are still being assessed.
“In respect of the illegal and restricted content reports, the material did not meet the classification threshold for class 1 child sexual exploitation material.As a result, eSafety did not issue removal notices or take enforcement action in relation to those specific complaints.”Sign up: AU Breaking News emailThe Australian regulator defines illegal and restricted material as “online content that ranges from the most seriously harmful material, such as images and videos showing the sexual abuse of children or acts of terrorism, through to content which should not be accessed by children, such as simulated sexual activity, detailed nudity or high impact violence”.The X app allows users to access a “spicy mode” for explicit content.“This is not spicy,” the European Union’s digital affairs spokesperson, Thomas Regnier, told the ABC.
“This is illegal.This is appalling.”Eliot Higgins, the founder of the investigative journalism group Bellingcat, exposed how Grok handled requests to manipulate a picture of the Swedish deputy prime minister, Ebba Busch, in parliament.Users gave Grok instructions such as “bikini now” and “now put her in a confederate flag bikini”.Higgins said the images provided reflected the prompts.
On Wednesday it was revealed that Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI, which developed Grok, had raised $20bn in its latest funding round.The UK’s technology secretary, Liz Kendall, said the deepfake images were “appalling and unacceptable in decent society” and that X needed to deal with it “urgently”.The eSafety spokesperson said the regulator remained “concerned about the increasing use of generative AI to sexualise or exploit people, particularly where children are involved”.“eSafety has taken enforcement action in 2025 in relation to some of the ‘nudify’ services most widely used to create AI child sexual exploitation material, leading to their withdrawal from Australia,” the spokesperson said.Guardian Australia contacted X for comment.
On Monday, the company said: “We take action against illegal content on X, including child sexual abuse material, by removing it, permanently suspending accounts and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary.”After global outcry at the harmful nature of the content, Musk posted that “anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content”.In Australia, support is available at Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, Lifeline on 13 11 14, and at MensLine on 1300 789 978.Children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800; adult survivors can seek help at Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380.In the UK, the charity Mind is available on 0300 123 3393 and Childline on 0800 1111.
The NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000.The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331.In the US, call or text Mental Health America at 988 or chat 988lifeline.org, or call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453.Other sources of help can be found at Child Helpline International
Food inflation forecast to fall this year after dairy, meat and vegetable oil costs drop – business live
The boss of supermarket chain Sainsbury’s has predicted that food inflation will continue to fall in 2026.Following this morning’s Christmas trading update, Sainsbury’s CEO Simon Roberts told reporters:“We’ve seen food inflation come down and when you think about the outlook for the year ahead we’d expect that to continue,”Roberts said that commodity prices were likely to be more stable in 2026 – speaking shortly before the UN reported that global food prices had dropped again in December (see previous post).European nations have backed the biggest ever free trade agreement with a group of South American countries, ending 25 years of negotiations but risking further tensions with farmers around the bloc.France, Poland, Austria, Ireland and Hungary opposed the deal in the face of protests from the agricultural sector, but Italy dropped its opposition allowing the landmark deal to be adopted under the majority voting system.The deal with Brazil, Argentina, Paraquay and Uruquary, must still get the approval of the European Parliament but bar any major U-turns by member states, it could be signed off as early as next week by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen
Sainsbury’s blames ‘significant headwinds’ for drop in Argos sales at Christmas
Sainsbury’s has blamed “significant headwinds” from weak consumer confidence, heavy online competition and widespread discounting for a fall in sales at its Argos chain over the all-important Christmas quarter.The UK’s second-largest grocer said its supermarkets increased sales by 3.4% at established stores in the three months to 3 January but Argos sales fell 1% in the period.Argos, which has more than 600 stores and 400 collection points, most of which are within Sainsbury’s outlets, performed particularly badly in the crucial final six weeks, with total sales down 2.2% compared with the Sainsbury’s chain’s 4
UK ministers considering leaving X amid concern over AI tool images
UK ministers are considering leaving X as a result of the controversy over the platform’s AI tool, which has been allowing users to generate digitally altered pictures of people – including children – with their clothes removed.Anna Turley, the chair of the Labour party and a minister without portfolio in the Cabinet Office, said on Friday that conversations were happening within the government and Labour about their continued use of the social media platform, which is controlled by Elon Musk.The government has come under mounting pressure to leave X after the site was flooded with images including sexualised and unclothed pictures of children generated by its AI tool, Grok.Turley told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “X, first and foremost, has to get its act together and prevent this. It has the powers to do this, and we need to make sure there are firm consequences for that
Grok turns off image generator for most users after outcry over sexualised AI imagery
Grok, Elon Musk’s AI tool, has switched off its image creation function for the vast majority of users after a widespread outcry about its use to create sexually explicit and violent imagery.The move comes after Musk was threatened with fines, regulatory action and reports of a possible ban on X in the UK.The tool had been used to manipulate images of women to remove their clothes and put them in sexualised positions. The function to do so has been switched off except for paying subscribers.Posting on X, Musk’s social media network, Grok said: “Image generation and editing are currently limited to paying subscribers
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Chess: Hastings Masters guards tradition and produces an English co-winner
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