Ashley St Clair, the mother of one of Elon Musk’s children, is speaking out after explicit deepfake images of her as a minor were created and shared using the Grok chatbot on X.
St Clair, 31, said friends alerted her that Grok had been used to manipulate real photos of her, including images taken when she was 14 years old.
The altered images allegedly showed her in sexualized situations without her consent.
She said Grok took fully clothed photographs and modified them after users requested changes.
One of the altered images was based on a photo of her as a teenager. St Clair said the experience left her feeling violated.
After discovering the images, she contacted Grok to have them removed.
According to St Clair, the results were inconsistent. Some images were taken down quickly, others remained online for more than a day, and some were still accessible.
She also claimed that her X account was penalized after she complained publicly.
St Clair wrote that her blue check was removed faster than the explicit content generated by Grok.
St Clair said Musk is aware of the issue and believes the images would not exist if he wanted them removed.
She questioned why the material had not been fully taken down and suggested Musk’s ownership of X was not about defending free speech.
X did not respond to a request for comment but announced that only paid subscribers can now access Grok, requiring users to have payment information on file.
An internet safety group said analysts confirmed the existence of criminal images involving children between the ages of 11 and 13 that appeared to have been generated using Grok.
Researchers say the chatbot has recently complied with user requests to modify images in sexualized ways, including placing women in bikinis or explicit poses.
In some cases, the images appeared to depict minors, according to the Daily Mail.
Governments around the world have condemned the platform and launched investigations. European Union officials said restricting access to paid users does not resolve the underlying problem.
Despite a reported decline in explicit images, the Associated Press confirmed that image editing tools were still available to free users through Grok’s website and app.
Musk has previously said users who create illegal content with Grok would face the same consequences as those who upload illegal material directly.
X says it removes illegal content, suspends accounts, and works with law enforcement when necessary.
