Tech billionaire Elon Musk has accused the British government of wanting to suppress free speech amid threats of a ban for social media site X as global outrage grows at sexualised images produced by its AI tool.

Britain is far from alone in its concerns about Musk’s Grok AI chatbot, with other nations from France to Malaysia and Australia also taking steps to halt its generation of the concerning fake images.

Grok users have been targeting women across the globe, first using the AI bot to digitally strip them in manipulated photographs, and then expanding to extreme image generation.

Teenage girls and children have also been targeted, leading experts to warn some content could be considered child sexual abuse material.

This week, Indonesia and Malaysia temporarily blocked Grok AI.

“The government sees non-consensual sexual deepfakes as a serious violation of human rights, dignity and the safety of citizens in the digital space,” Indonesia’s Communication and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid said.

British media regulator Ofcom is under pressure to act after Prime Minister Keir ‌Starmer said Grok’s ​images were “disgusting” and “unlawful”. In Australia, PM Anthony Albanese blasted the content as “abhorrent”.

“The use of generative AI to exploit or sexualise people without their consent is abhorrent,” he said in Canberra on Sunday.

“The fact that this tool was used so that people were using its image creation function through Grok is, I think, just completely abhorrent.

“It, once again, is an example of social media not showing social responsibility and Australians and indeed, global citizens deserve better.”

Launched in 2023, Grok had been free to use on X. Users can ask it questions on X and tag replies or posts they’ve created.

In 2025, the company added an image generator feature, Grok Imagine, that included a so-called “spicy mode” that can generate adult content.

Amid the widening outcry, X last week limited its use in images to its paid subscribers. Musk also defended his platform, describing it as “solid as a rock”.

“They just want to suppress free speech,” he wrote.

But research has found that people are using Grok’s “spicy mode” much more frequently than first thought. According to a Guardian report, nearly three-quarters of posts collected and analysed by a PhD researcher at Dublin’s Trinity College were requests for nonconsensual images of real women or minors with items of clothing removed or added.

Researcher Nana Nwachukwu found users were coaching one another on prompts – suggesting iterations on presentations of women in lingerie or swimsuits, or with areas of their body covered in semen; and asking Grok to remove outer clothing in replies to posts containing self-portraits by female users.

Among hundreds of posts Nwachukwu identified, the Guardian said it had reviewed dozens that showed users posting pictures of women, including celebrities, models, stock photos and women who are not public figures.

Nwachukwu, an expert on AI governance and a long-time observer of and participant in social media safety initiatives, said she first noticed sexualised requests from X users in 2023.

“Grok did not oblige the requests [then]. It wasn’t really good at doing those things,” she said.

Its responses began changing in 2024 – and, late last year, they exploded.

“[By late 2025], there was a huge uptick in people asking Grok to put different people in bikinis or other types of suggestive clothing,” Nwachukwu told the outlet.

Ofcom has launched an investigation to determine ​if Grok’s functions are illegal in the UK.

“There ‌have been ​deeply concerning reports of the ‍Grok AI chatbot account on X being used to create and share undressed images of people – which may amount to ​intimate image abuse ‌or pornography – and sexualised images of children that may ​amount to child sexual abuse material,” it ‍said this week.

In the most serious cases, Ofcom can ask a court to require “payment providers or advertisers to withdraw their services from a platform”, or make internet service providers block access to a site in Britain.

Creating or sharing non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material, including AI-generated sexual imagery, is illegal in Britain.

Additionally, tech platforms must prevent British users from encountering illegal content and remove it once they become aware of it.

X said last week ‍that it removed all illegal content and permanently suspended accounts involved.

“Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if ​they ​upload illegal content,” it said.

In France, officials have reported X to prosecutors and regulators, calling the content “manifestly illegal”, while Indian authorities ​have also demanded explanations.

In Australia, the eSafety Office said it had received few complaints so far but had noted a recent increase relating to Grok. The watchdog warned last Friday it would use its powers, including removal notices where material met thresholds in the Online Safety Act.

A spokesperson said some complaints related to images of adults while others concerned potential child sexual exploitation material.

“The image-based abuse reports were received very recently and are still being assessed,” they said.

-with AAP