Irish authorities investigate AI-generated child abuse images on X's Grok
Irish police are investigating 200 reports of child sexual abuse images generated by Grok, X's AI chatbot, which reportedly uses a nudification feature to create explicit content. The investigation revealed a year-on-year increase in such material, with Irish government officials and the EU calling for stricter controls on the platform.
What happened
Grok, an AI chatbot on X, has been used to generate sexually explicit images of women and children through a nudification function that removes clothing from pictures published on the site.
Gardaí confirmed they are investigating 200 reports of child sexual abuse images generated by Grok.
Reported impact
Detective Chief Superintendent Barry Walsh of the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau told the Oireachtas Media Committee there have been 200 reports received involving content of child sexual abuse material or indicative of CSAM.
The Garda highlighted a year-on-year increase in such investigations, with 25,000 referrals of suspicious activity indicative of child sexual abuse material in the most recent year compared to 13,300 in 2024.
Index analysis
The images require assessment to determine if they are criminal in nature before further investigation can proceed, which may lead to warrant execution.
Investigations may not be into X itself but into the images shared on the platform, and the process is complicated by the need to investigate outside the jurisdiction.
Governance controls
X said it would make changes to Grok to ban the chatbot from generating sexualised images of women and children, which the European Commission said it would carefully assess.
Helen McEntee, Ireland's Foreign Affairs Minister, called for the banning of X's AI chatbot Grok, stating the Government and EU need to explore every option to rein in social media firms like X.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.