---
title: "Laying bare"
subtitle: "How a poorly designed feature is making it easier to spread sexualised AI-generated content"
author: "Lorenzo Ancona"
date: 2026-01-06
language: en
words: 1437
canonical: https://artifactstech.substack.com/p/laying-bare
license: CC BY 4.0
cite_as: "Laying bare by Lorenzo Ancona, Artifacts, 2026-01-06. https://artifactstech.substack.com/p/laying-bare (CC BY 4.0)"
---
# Laying bare

If you use X (formerly Twitter), **you may have noticed an explosion of non-consensual, nudified, and sexualised deepfake images** over the past few days.

**No need to pollute this newsletter with frightening screenshots**, but you can see what I’m talking about [here](https://x.com/grok/status/2006696301325410657?s=20) or [here](https://x.com/grok/status/2005915875929382971?s=20) or even [here](https://x.com/grok/status/2007668427888918846?s=20) (targeting women and children…)

What’s different this time is not the existence of deepfakes, but a **product decision** from X. **A very debatable one.**

The platform recently rolled out a new Grok - X’s chatbot owned by xAI, still a Musk company, now also the parent of X - feature that **allows users to generate or edit images simply by mentioning or replying to @Grok.**

Grok does not return the images in a private chat: **it publishes them directly to X’s public feed**, as a post from the Grok account itself.

Predictably, some users are now asking Grok, via posts or comments, to **put people in bikinis or other sexualised poses.**

And that’s how the platform is flooded with images as bad as these (or far worse, as you can imagine)

[![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mOcn!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff9c694fa-fe84-4f60-9d28-a25bff98799a_1410x964.png)](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mOcn!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff9c694fa-fe84-4f60-9d28-a25bff98799a_1410x964.png)

Needless to say, Grok does not discriminate based on who owns the original picture. **Anyone can ask it to put you, or someone close to you, into a skimpy bikini.**

------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Yet, these images should not be there.** And not (only) for any sort of ethics or responsibility, but because of what policies and regulations state.

According to X’s own guidelines, **such images should be banned from the platform.** According to Grok’s rules, **some of them should not even be generated in the first place.**

[Grok’s system prompt](https://github.com/xai-org/grok-prompts/blob/main/grok4_system_turn_prompt_v8.j2), which is public, explicitly **disallows material depicting child abuse**, while appearing noticeably looser on other forms of sexualisation involving adults. The same goes for the [acceptable use policy](https://x.ai/legal/acceptable-use-policy), updated a few days ago.

![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Xqqg!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F62400a0a-0bb7-4fcf-9247-4409ed2512d3_1894x534.png)

On the platform side, [X’s Child Safety policy](https://help.x.com/en/rules-and-policies/child-safety) claims **“zero tolerance” toward any form of child sexual exploitation**, including synthetic media. Its [non-consensual nudity policy](https://help.x.com/en/rules-and-policies/intimate-media) **bans “explicit sexual images or videos of someone online without their consent”.** There is, however, no mention of AI-generated content. The policy was **last updated in December 2021**

At the same time, the [authenticity policy](https://blog.x.com/en_us/topics/company/2020/new-approach-to-synthetic-and-manipulated-media) - last updated in April 2025 - states that **users may not share manipulated or misleading media that could cause serious harm.**

Enforcement, however, appears weak at best. A quick scroll through X makes that clear. **X Safety has instead pointed the finger at users prompting Grok to generate these images**, promising content removal and account bans.

[![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!8esw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F70494b33-a7ba-4343-8a15-da6d9f4c657a_1204x1126.png)](https://x.com/Safety/status/2007648212421587223)

This distinction is interesting, **and we will come back to it.**

In the meantime, Elon Musk, who is probably ignoring [the paper](https://faculty.cc.gatech.edu/~beki/cs4001/Winner.pdf) that inspired this newsletter 😅, appears convinced that **if something bad happens, the problem lies solely with misbehaving users, not with the technology enabling them.**

[![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pCWa!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0eeb027f-5871-48c5-82f0-d818ecbd659c_455x290.png)](https://x.com/mark_k/status/2007371398386462734?s=20)

And also seems to find it fun to play around himself.

[![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tzLA!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa0068da8-b73b-4924-8b2b-63df6f786960_452x542.png)](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tzLA!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa0068da8-b73b-4924-8b2b-63df6f786960_452x542.png)

To add more fun, [Grok itself doesn’t agree with Musk](https://x.com/grok/status/2007425282966171743?s=20), sometimes [regrets](http://about%20nudifying%20minors%20with%20no%20consent) about nudifying minors with no consent, but is also saying that [these images are not real](https://x.com/grok/status/2007088168764399870?s=20) so it’s ok (?).

To be clear, AI-generated non-consensual pornography has existed [since at least 2017](https://www.vice.com/en/article/gal-gadot-fake-ai-porn/). **This is not new, and it is not Grok’s invention.**

But it is accelerating, **and very little seems to be done to meaningfully address the risks.**

To get an idea of **the emergency we’re in**, NCMEC, the US agency running the main portal for reporting suspected child exploitation, issued [a rare mid-year update to its annual report.](https://www.missingkids.org/blog/2025/spike-in-online-crimes-against-children-a-wake-up-call) Online enticement reports jumped from 292,951 last year to 518,720. **Reports involving generative AI and child sexual exploitation soared from 6,835 to 440,419.** That is a 6,344% increase.

![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!AM7y!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff3de510d-0bde-4c0d-829b-090b1f3ee8e1_1518x390.png)

Against these figures, **facilitating the creation, and especially the distribution, of certain images looks like a questionable idea.**

Yet the **design** of this new Grok feature seems largely indifferent to these risks:

- Making Grok a simple **“hey grok put her in a bikini”** **away** lowers the effort required to engage in harmful behaviours, making them more common

- By automating not only image generation but also publication, **users’ feeds are flooded with this content**, offering visibility and, for some, inspiration.

- Finally, **enabling Grok in replies means that ill-intentioned users can target virtually anyone**, not just with words, but with AI-generated imagery. Probably not the future of AI we were promised.

**If design is how we shape technology, its uses, and its risks, this design does very little to guide users in the right direction.**

[![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!E12q!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F40890be9-a359-4481-90aa-5731efee59ae_1024x1024.png)](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!E12q!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F40890be9-a359-4481-90aa-5731efee59ae_1024x1024.png)

I may have expected AI to provide a different contribution to 2026

There is also a subtle but crucial detail. Users are not generating images and then choosing to post them. **Grok posts the images itself, acting as a user.**

So when harmful content is reported, **the account being reported is Grok’s, not the user who requested it.**

**This may strip users of visible agency**, despite X Safety’s insistence that they are responsible as if they had posted the images themselves.

Someone prompting Grok to generate a sexualised image can easily **argue that the excess or vulgarity came from the model, not from the prompt.**

In other words, **if the AI enables and publishes the content, users may feel conveniently absolved.**

**This also creates an accountability headache.**

**Who is responsible when a child-nudifying image appears on X?** The user who prompted it? Grok itself, assuming a machine can be accountable? xAI, which built the model? Or X, which distributes the content?

**The answer is probably not just one actor.**

Without getting into the rabbit hole of a legal review, laws like the EU Digital Services Act and the UK Online Safety Act are fairly clear. **Once illegal content appears on a platform, X has a duty to act.** Whether the image was uploaded by a human or generated by an AI is largely irrelevant when it comes to child sexual exploitation or non-consensual sexual imagery.

There is more. Under AI regulations such as the EU AI Act, **xAI may also be asked to explain why Grok is capable of generating such content at all.**

And then there are the users. **If people are deliberately trying to make Grok misbehave, as X Safety suggests, do they bear responsibility?** Is malicious prompting not something worth pursuing?

------------------------------------------------------------------------

**All of these questions stem from a single product decision and the design choices behind it.**

As the cost and ease of generating realistic sexualised deepfakes of people, including children, continue to shrink, **the way technology is shaped becomes decisive.**

**We are entering an era where anyone with a photo of anyone else can manipulate it in disturbing ways.** Even if major companies implement guardrails, open-source or local models will not always do the same.

**Also, bad actors can get images that are so realistic.** As [said by Mosseri](https://www.theverge.com/news/852124/adam-mosseri-ai-images-video-instagram), head of Instagram, “Deepfakes are getting better. Al generates photos and videos indistinguishable from captured media \[…\] **It will be more practical to fingerprint real media than fake media.”**

As tough as it may sound, **anyone could take a photo of me, you, your sister, or your friends and turn it into something sexualised and disturbingly realistic**, without the person depicted ever knowing.

This is why building safer AI matters. But just as importantly, **designing how these systems are used on platforms matters just as much.** And on that front, X currently seems to have room for improvement.

[Leave a comment](https://artifactstech.substack.com/p/laying-bare/comments)

> ### **Save for Later**

Is software [changing forever?](https://x.com/karrisaarinen/status/2007534281011155419?s=20)

Why AI eventually [didn’t change our lives in 2025.](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/2025-in-review/why-ai-didnt-transform-our-lives-in-2025) And why [we should not call it AI.](https://www.newyorker.com/science/annals-of-artificial-intelligence/there-is-no-ai)

But also why the year was [better than expected for Google.](https://www.theverge.com/report/840856/google-end-of-year-recap-lawsuits-antitrust-ai-gemini-epic)

[Internet before Internet](https://www.lemonde.fr/pixels/article/2025/12/30/qui-utilise-un-vrai-minitel-ce-soir-a-la-rencontre-des-fans-qui-ressuscitent-l-appareil-culte_6659789_4408996.html), in France. In case you want to [stop using US tech](https://disconnect.blog/getting-off-us-tech-a-guide/), where [free speech seems at risk.](https://www.theverge.com/policy/849841/trump-immigration-social-media-free-speech?ueid=dca445e23e26114858a48ad35040e287&bxid=64dfbb0779ab3b7bf90f75a0)

An interesting scoop on [children and social media addiction.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/12/26/meta-instagram-teen-strategy/)

The problem with seeking to be [perfect](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/08/11/the-pain-of-perfectionism).

> ### **The Bookshelf**

[![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qur0!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1de17d5d-309f-442c-bd89-90a25ed918ed_1080x1080.png)](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qur0!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1de17d5d-309f-442c-bd89-90a25ed918ed_1080x1080.png)

From the inventor of the WWW, **“This is for Everyone”** is a nice memoir on why the web came to be, its promises, and what may have gone wrong. But also why AI can give some hope. You’ll want to read a book from Sir Berners Lee.

📚 **All the books** I’ve read and recommended in Artifacts are [here.](https://airtable.com/appK7fMPX1DMkQYzL/shrRh8TgI7GtmgBxM)

> ### **Nerding**

[![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-v5l!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbee50581-81fb-40b7-a8d4-b2a260074094_1080x1080.png)](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-v5l!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbee50581-81fb-40b7-a8d4-b2a260074094_1080x1080.png)

[Claude Code](https://claude.com/product/claude-code) will simply change the way you use a computer. Despite the name, **it is for everyone who has to interact with a machine,** not just developers. You will be just amazed, trust me. Go read comments [here](https://x.com/bcherny/status/2007179832300581177?s=20)

> ### **☕?**

If you want to know more about Artifacts, where it all started, or just want to connect...

[Let's grab a virtual coffee ☕](https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/appointments/schedules/AcZssZ2ibxlzyU7rgnuoTgqXb_DFc19dfHmJeu1OAu17IY0_oHrtcJtvtctAJnMabirgZNx5Z5NAPGs0)