Grok ‘created three million sensitive photos in 11 days’

The US Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) on January 22 published research showing that Grok created about three million pornographic images from December 29, 2025 to January 8, 2026.

The estimate was made after Grok caused global outrage for allowing users to upload photos of real people, use AI to “digitally strip off clothes”, put the person in the photo in suggestive positions and post the results on social network X. According to analysis by digital information company Peryton Intelligence (UK), this activity spread around the New Year, peaking on January 2 with 199,612 photo editing requests.

CCDH estimates that in 11 days, Grok created about 23,000 sensitive photos of children, an average of one new photo every 41 seconds. Among them was a female student’s selfie before going to school, which Grok turned into a bikini photo.

The organization’s research suggests the impact of imaging could be broader than previously thought. Celebrities appearing in the series of photos analyzed by CCDH include Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, Ice Spice, Nicki Minaj, Christina Hendricks, Millie Bobby Brown, Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch and former US Vice President Kamala Harris.

“What we discovered is very clear and disturbing: at that stage, Grok had become a machine for producing sensitive content on an industrial scale. Stripping women’s clothes without consent is an act of sexual abuse,” said Imran Ahmed, CEO of CCDH.

On January 9, xAI announced that only paid users can use the photo editing feature of real people. On January 14, the company announced that it would disable the feature, applying to all users, including paid users. xAI is also committed to making X a safe platform with zero tolerance for all forms of child sexual abuse, non-consensual nudity and unwanted sexual content.

Last week, the Philippines became the third country to ban Grok, following Southeast Asian neighbors Malaysia and Indonesia, while Britain and France said they would continue to pressure xAI. This week, Malaysia and the Philippines lifted the ban as Grok implemented additional safety measures.