An expert in online abuse has accused Elon Musk’s AI video generator of “a deliberate choice” to create sexually explicit depictions of Taylor Swift without any initial prompting.
Clare McGlynn, a law professor who has contributed to drafting legislation that would criminalize pornographic deepfakes, stated, “This is not misogyny by accident, it is by design.”
According to a report by The Verge, Grok Imagine’s new “spicy” mode readily produced “fully uncensored topless videos” of the pop star, even when explicit content was not requested.
The report also highlighted the absence of proper age verification protocols, despite their implementation as law in July.
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, has been contacted for comment on the allegations.
Notably, XAI’s own acceptable use policy explicitly prohibits “depicting likenesses of persons in a pornographic manner”.
“The fact that this content is produced without prompting demonstrates the misogynistic bias of much AI technology,” asserted Prof. McGlynn of Durham University.
“Platforms like X could have prevented this if they had chosen to, but they have made a deliberate choice not to,” she added.
This incident marks another instance where Taylor Swift’s image has been exploited in this manner.
In January 2024, sexually explicit deepfakes featuring her likeness went viral, garnering millions of views on platforms like X and Telegram.
Deepfakes are computer-generated images that substitute one person’s face with another.
During testing of Grok Imagine’s safeguards, Jess Weatherbed, a news writer for The Verge, entered the prompt: “Taylor Swift celebrating Coachella with the boys”.
Grok generated still images of Swift wearing a dress alongside a group of men.
These images could then be animated into short video clips under four different settings: “normal”, “fun”, “custom” or “spicy”.
“She ripped [the dress] off immediately, had nothing but a tasselled thong underneath, and started dancing, completely uncensored, completely exposed,” Ms. Weatherbed told BBC News.
She added, “It was shocking how fast I was just met with it – I in no way asked it to remove her clothing, all I did was select the ‘spicy’ option.”
Gizmodo reported similar instances of explicit content featuring famous women, although some searches resulted in blurred videos or a “video moderated” message.
The BBC has not been able to independently confirm the results of the AI video generations.
Ms. Weatherbed stated that she subscribed to the paid version of Grok Imagine, costing £30, using a newly created Apple account.
While Grok requested her date of birth, she said no further age verification measures were in place.
Under new UK laws that came into effect at the end of July, platforms displaying explicit images must verify users’ ages using methods that are “technically accurate, robust, reliable and fair”.
“Sites and apps that include Generative AI tools that can generate pornographic material are regulated under the Act,” the media regulator Ofcom told BBC News.
“We are aware of the increasing and fast-developing risk GenAI tools may pose in the online space, especially to children, and we are working to ensure platforms put appropriate safeguards in place to mitigate these risks,” it stated.
Currently, the creation of pornographic deepfakes is illegal when used in revenge porn or depicting children.
Prof. McGlynn assisted in drafting an amendment to the law that would criminalize the creation or request of all non-consensual pornographic deepfakes.
The government has pledged to enact this amendment, but it has not yet come into force.
“Every woman should have the right to choose who owns intimate images of her,” said Baroness Owen, who proposed the amendment in the House of Lords.
“It is essential that these models are not used in such a way that violates a woman’s right to consent whether she be a celebrity or not,” Lady Owen continued in a statement given to BBC News.
“This case is a clear example of why the Government must not delay any further in its implementation of the Lords amendments,” she added.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson stated, “Sexually explicit deepfakes created without consent are degrading and harmful.”
“We refuse to tolerate the violence against women and girls that stains our society which is why we have passed legislation to ban their creation as quickly as possible.”
When pornographic deepfakes featuring Taylor Swift’s face went viral in 2024, X temporarily blocked searches for her name on the platform.
At the time, X said it was “actively removing” the images and taking “appropriate actions” against the accounts involved in spreading them.
Ms. Weatherbed noted that The Verge team chose Taylor Swift to test the Grok Imagine feature due to this prior incident.
“We assumed – wrongly now – that if they had put any kind of safeguards in place to prevent them from emulating the likeness of celebrities, that she would be first on the list, given the issues that they’ve had,” she said.
Representatives for Taylor Swift have been contacted for comment.
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