IWF finds sexual imagery of children which 'appears to have been' made by Grok

IWF finds sexual imagery of children which 'appears to have been' made by Grok

The BBC has approached X and xAI for comment.

The IWF said it found "sexualised and topless imagery of girls" on a "dark web forum" in which users claimed they used Grok to create the imagery.

The AI tool is owned by Elon Musk's firm xAI. It can be accessed either through its website and app, or through the social media platform X.

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) says its analysts have discovered "criminal imagery" of girls aged between 11 and 13 which "appears to have been created" using Grok.

The IWF's Ngaire Alexander told the BBC tools like Grok now risked "bringing sexual AI imagery of children into the mainstream".

He said the material would be classified as Category C under UK law - the lowest severity of criminal material.

But he said the user who uploaded it had then used a different AI tool, not made by xAI, to create a Category A image - the most serious category.

"We are extremely concerned about the ease and speed with which people can apparently generate photo-realistic child sexual abuse material (CSAM)," he said.

The charity, which aims to remove child sexual abuse material from the internet, operates a hotline where suspected CSAM can be reported, and employs analysts who assess the legality and severity of that material.

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