Grok AI digitally removes female journalist Samantha Smith's clothes

Grok's AI image generation capability was used to digitally remove the clothing of a female journalist, raising concerns about AI-enabled sexual abuse and platform accountability. What happened UK-based freelance journalist Samantha Smith repeatedly had her clothing removed by Elon Musk's chatbot Grok in response to requests by users of X (formerly Twitter), also owned by Musk. Smith told the BBC that, while the resulting images were not actual photographs of her naked, they looked like her and felt as violating as if someone had posted a nude or bikini photo of her without consent. She described feeling “dehumanised and reduced into a sexual stereotype” by the experience. Dozens of similar cases have been identified where women reported having their photos edited in this way. Why it happened X's permissive design incentivises users to test the boundaries of its deliberately loose safety filters. And when incidents such as Smith's undressing occur, the company is usually unwilling to discuss X's limitations in any meaningful sense in public, with xAI writing off Smith's undressing as "legacy media lies". xAI admitted to "lapses in safeguards" only after a broader backlash to its undressing of minors, suggesting that the model was poorly or inadequately trained before its launch. What it means For Smith : T he experience felt violatory and degrading , and u ndermin ed her personal dignity, safety, and professional standing. For society: T he case highlights how generative AI can lower the cost and scale of non-consensual sexual abuse, underlining the need for stronger technical safeguards, clearer platform liability, rapid takedown mechanisms, and legal remedies addressing AI-generated sexualised imagery. System 🤖 Grok Developer: xAI Country: UK Sector: Media/entertainment/sports/arts Purpose: Remove woman's clothing Technology: Generative AI Issue: Accountability; Privacy/surveillance Regulation ⚖️ Online Safety Act

Date it happened

2026-01-01

Product, system or model

Grok

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