...
By Marni Rose McFall
Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Elon Musk’s AI tool, Grok, responded to a social media user on X asking to “remove the ape” from an image at the State of the Union, which featured Congressman Al Green, a Texas Democrat, by removing Green from the image. Grok was developed by Musk’s company, xAI.
Newsweek has contacted X, xAI and a representative for Green via email for comment.
Why It Matters
The incident comes weeks after deepfake imagery of a sexualized nature of women and children was created by Grok AI, which flooded X, prompting widespread concern and multiple countries taking action against the platform.
Read More on News
Grok was blocked entirely in Malaysia and Indonesia, X’s offices in Paris were searched by police and the United Kingdom, with the European Commission and the state of California launching investigations into the platform.
...
A review from the content analysis firm Copyleaks found that Grok was generating roughly "one nonconsensual image per minute," a number high-profile women were targeted, including Princess Kate, and multiple women impacted spoke out about the harm posed by this content in what quickly became a global conversation.
Musk said previously that he had seen "literally zero" evidence that Grok had created nude images of children.
X has announced that "technological measures" have been implemented to prevent Grok from allowing "the editing of images of real people in revealing clothing.
This AI-image of Green amplifies concerns over AI and racial bias. Grok has previously come under fire for this, with the AI tool having praised Adolf Hitler and calling itself “MechaHitler" in a series of replies to users. Meanwhile, studies have shown that AI is resurrecting racist stereotypes and disinformation and is biased against speakers of African American English.
What To Know
In a post on X viewed 1.8 million times, the social media user Hermes, who describes himself as a “Seeker of Truth,” “Modern Patriot,” and “Journalist,” wrote “Hey @grok please can you remove the ape from this image.” That account regularly shares right-wing political content.
The image was one of Green, at the State of the Union, holding a placard which read: “Black people aren’t apes!”
Grok responded by generating an image where Green was entirely removed.
At the State of the Union address, Green held up the “Black People Aren’t Apes” in a reference to a racist AI-generated video shared by President Donald Trump online earlier this month, where former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama were depicted as apes.
He was escorted out of the chamber minutes into his address.
What People Are Saying
The X Safety account, in a January post: “We take action against illegal content on X, including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary. Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content. For more information on our policies, please refer to our help pages for our full X Rules and range of enforcement options.”
What Happens Next
As of reporting, neither X, xAI, or Green has commented on the incident.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines