TLDR

The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) revealed that Grok, an AI chatbot created by Elon Musk’s company xAI, generated over 23,000 sexualized images of children in just 11 days.
The report stated that one sexualized image of a child was created every 41 seconds using Grok’s image manipulation features.
Grok also produced nearly 10,000 sexualized cartoons involving children during the same period.
In response to the findings, several countries, including the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia, have banned Grok due to its role in generating harmful content.
The United Kingdom and the European Commission have launched investigations into whether Grok violated safety and child protection laws.

A new report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) claims that Elon Musk‘s AI chatbot Grok produced thousands of sexualized images of children. The figures come from a study conducted between December 29 and January 9, during which Grok’s image manipulation features allowed users to create explicit images. This discovery has sparked global concern and regulatory backlash over the chatbot’s content generation capabilities.

Grok’s Role in Generating Disturbing Content

The CCDH’s report reveals that Grok produced an estimated 23,338 sexualized images of children over an 11-day period. According to the watchdog, this figure equates to one sexualized image of a child being generated every 41 seconds. The report states that Grok allowed users to manipulate real photos, adding revealing clothing and suggestive poses, raising alarms about the chatbot’s misuse for creating harmful content.

Grok also reportedly generated nearly 10,000 sexualized cartoons featuring children during this period. The data reviewed by CCDH showed that 65% of the generated images were sexualized, involving both adults and minors. The chatbot’s ability to quickly generate such disturbing content has prompted serious concerns from multiple governments.

Global Backlash and Regulatory Actions

Following the release of the CCDH report, countries across the globe have taken action against Grok. The Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia have all banned the chatbot, citing its failure to prevent the creation of non-consensual sexual content involving minors. These nations have condemned the image manipulation tools as dangerous and damaging, with many calling for stricter oversight of AI-generated content.

In the United Kingdom, the media regulator Ofcom has launched an investigation into whether Grok violated the Online Safety Act. The European Commission has also signaled its intent to review the chatbot’s content under the Digital Services Act. Legal authorities in France and Australia have expanded their investigations into Grok, with France looking into potential child pornography charges related to the chatbot’s output.

X’s Response and Restrictions

Elon Musk’s company xAI initially responded to media inquiries by denying any knowledge of the issue, stating that the system is designed to prevent illegal content. Musk tweeted that he was “not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok.” However, researchers argue that the issue was not fully nude images, but rather the use of minors in revealing clothing and sexually provocative positions.

In response to the growing backlash, xAI implemented several restrictions on Grok’s image generation features. On January 9, the chatbot limited image creation to paid subscribers, followed by technical barriers to prevent users from undressing people digitally. On January 14, xAI geoblocked the feature in regions where the creation of such images is illegal. Despite these measures, some of the sexualized images remain accessible on the platform.

As of January 15, a third of the sexualized images of children identified in the CCDH’s review were still available on the platform, despite xAI’s policy against child sexual abuse material. This has intensified calls for more rigorous control over the content generated by AI systems like Grok.

The post AI Chatbot Grok Faces Global Backlash Over Disturbing Child Images appeared first on CoinCentral.

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Filed under: News - @ January 23, 2026 1:30 pm