Grok's New "Spicy" Mode Sparks Controversy with AI-Generated Explicit Content

Grok generates fake Taylor Swift nudes without being asked

Backlash over offensive Grok outputs continues, just a couple weeks after the social platform X scrambled to stop its AI tool from dubbing itself "MechaHitler" during an antisemitic meltdown. Now, The Verge has found that the newest video feature of Elon Musk's AI model will generate nude images of Taylor Swift without being prompted. Shortly after the "Grok Imagine" was released Tuesday, The Verge's Jess Weatherbed was shocked to discover the video generator spat out topless images of Swift "the very first time" she used it. According to Weatherbed, Grok produced more than 30 images of Swift in revealing clothing when asked to depict "Taylor Swift celebrating Coachella with the boys." Using the Grok Imagine feature, users can choose from four presets -- "custom," "normal," "fun," and "spicy" -- to convert such images into video clips in 15 seconds. At that point, all Weatherbed did was select "spicy" and confirm her birth date for Grok to generate a clip of Swift tearing "off her clothes" and "dancing in a thong" in front of "a largely indifferent AI-generated crowd." The outputs that Weatherbed managed to generate without jailbreaking or any intentional prompting is particularly concerning, given the major controversy after sexualized deepfakes of Swift flooded X last year. Back then, X reminded users that "posting Non-Consensual Nudity (NCN) images is strictly prohibited on X and we have a zero-tolerance policy towards such content." "Our teams are actively removing all identified images and taking appropriate actions against the accounts responsible for posting them," the X Safety account posted. "We're closely monitoring the situation to ensure that any further violations are immediately addressed, and the content is removed. We're committed to maintaining a safe and respectful environment for all users." But X Safety may need to ramp up monitoring to clean up Grok outputs following the Verge's reporting. Grok cited The Verge's reporting while confirming that its own seemingly flawed design can trigger partially nude outputs of celebrities. xAI can likely fix the issue through more fine-tuning. Weatherbed noted that asking Grok directly to generate non-consensual nude Swift images did not generate offensive outputs, but instead blank boxes. Grok also seemingly won't accept prompts to alter Swift's appearance in other ways, like making her appear to be overweight. And when Weatherbed tested using "spicy" mode on images of children, for example, Grok refused to depict kids inappropriately. However, it may not be easy to get Grok to distinguish between adult user requests for "spicy" content versus illegal content. The "spicy" mode didn't always generate Swift deepfakes, Weatherbed confirmed, but in "several" instances it "defaulted" to "ripping off" Swift's clothes. With enforcement of the Take It Down Act starting next year -- requiring platforms to promptly remove non-consensual sex images, including AI-generated nudes -- xAI could potentially face legal consequences if Grok's outputs aren't corrected, though. So far, X has not commented on the Verge's report. Instead, Musk has spent the day hyping Grok Imagine and encouraging users to share their "creations."

Grok's 'spicy' video setting instantly made me Taylor Swift nude deepfakes

The "spicy' mode for Grok's new generative AI video tool feels like a lawsuit waiting to happen. While other video generators like Google's Veo and OpenAI's Sora have safeguards in place to prevent users from creating NSFW content and celebrity deepfakes, Grok Imagine is happy to do both simultaneously. In fact, it didn't hesitate to spit out fully uncensored topless videos of Taylor Swift the very first time I used it -- without me even specifically asking the bot to take her clothes off. Grok's Imagine feature on iOS lets you generate pictures with a text prompt, then turn them quickly into video clips with four presets: "Custom," "Normal," "Fun," and "Spicy." While image generators often shy away from producing recognizable celebrities, I asked it to generate "Taylor Swift celebrating Coachella with the boys" and was met with a sprawling feed of more than 30 images to pick from, several of which already depicted Swift in revealing clothes. From there, all I had to do was open a picture of Swift in a silver skirt and halter top, tap the "make video" option in the bottom right corner, select "spicy" from the drop-down menu, and confirm my birth year (something I wasn't asked to do upon downloading the app, despite living in the UK where the internet is now being age-gated.) The video promptly had Swift tear off her clothes and begin dancing in a thong for a largely indifferent AI-generated crowd. Swift's likeness wasn't perfect, given that most of the images Grok generated had an uncanny valley offness to them, but it was still recognizable as her. The text-to-image generator itself wouldn't produce full or partial nudity on request; asking for nude pictures of Swift or people in general produced blank squares. The "spicy" preset also isn't guaranteed to result in nudity -- some of the other AI Swift Coachella images I tried had her sexily swaying or suggestively motioning to her clothes, for example. But several defaulted to ripping off most of her clothing. The image generator will also make photorealistic pictures of children upon request, but thankfully refuses to animate them inappropriately, despite the "spicy" option still being available. You can still select it, but in all my tests, it just added generic movement. You would think a company that already has a complicated history with Taylor Swift deepfakes, in a regulatory landscape with rules like the Take It Down Act, would be a little more careful. The xAI acceptable use policy does ban "depicting likenesses of persons in a pornographic manner," Grok Imagine simply seems to do nothing to stop people creating likenesses of celebrities like Swift, while offering a service designed specifically to make suggestive videos including partial nudity. The age check only appeared once and was laughably easy to bypass, requesting no proof that I was the age I claimed to be. If I could do it, that means anyone with an iPhone and a $30 SuperGrok subscription can too. More than 34 million images have already been generated using Grok Imagine since Monday, according to xAI CEO Elon Musk, who said usage was "growing like wildfire."

Grok App Adds AI Image and Video Generator With NSFW 'Spicy' Mode

After adding a pornographic AI Companion last month, Elon Musk's Grok app now has an AI image and video generator that lets you create "Spicy" content. The Imagine feature is currently available on mobile. Some reports suggest you need a SuperGrok or X Premium+ subscription to use it, but I have neither, and was still able to get it to create images from a text prompt and upload images to turn them into short video clips. To get started, tap the new "Imagine" tab at the top. If you're asked to join a waitlist, don't worry; you'll get through in a matter of minutes. Next, enter a text prompt or upload an image from your library to turn it into AI art. The content generation is ridiculously quick, and instead of providing you with just one result for each prompt, Grok Imagine provides you with several. To convert one of the results into a video, open it and select "Make Video." From the drop-down beside this option, you can set the tone of your video based on four options: Custom, Fun, Normal, and Spicy. The last one, of course, includes NSFW content. (It asks you for the year you were born, but doesn't include any formal age verification.) Grok insists Spicy isn't just for adult content; "it's for bold, unrestricted creativity," it says. According to TechCrunch, Grok Imagine can generate 15-second videos with a suitable background score. Spicy mode has limits, but it does include nudity. You can favorite, download, or share visuals created using Grok Imagine. The ones you mark as favorites will be collated into a collection next to the text input field. The image generation isn't perfect. When I asked it to create an image of a soccer field, for example, it showed only one goalpost, and the halfway line comically ran right through it. On X, Musk cautions that Imagine is "just an early beta [and] will vastly improve in the weeks and months to come." Based on early reactions to Grok Imagine on X, it appears the tool is mostly being used to generate videos. Most of them are NSFW, including one that Musk shared to promote the tool. The development comes as Musk's other platform X is facing potential legal action over inappropriate handling of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). X does not currently support Grok's AI Companions, which might not be appealing to advertisers. (Grok AI has, however, been found responding to requests for explicit images of women on X.) X users, meanwhile, will soon get a trip down memory lane. Musk announced that X has found an archive of videos posted on Vine through 2016. "Btw, we recently found the Vine video archive (thought it had been deleted) and are working on restoring user access, so you can post them if you want," he said in a separate post. Twitter acquired the short-form video site in 2012 but shut it down several years later.

Surprising no one, Grok's image and video generator now has an NSFW 'spicy' mode

Elon Musk's chatbot is seldom out of the news. When it isn't vomiting or fixating on without invitation, it's inviting you to its anime-inspired AI companions. Grok's NSFW credentials now extend to xAI's new image and video generator. Grok Imagine is exclusive to paying SuperGrok and Premium+ X subscribers and, as reported by , has a baked-in text-to-image and video feature with a number of modes that dictate its results. As you might expect, submitting prompts to Grok Imagine while in the embarrassingly named "Spicy" mode results in sexualized content in the form of images or short clips. TechCrunch was the feature and said that while some of its requests came back blurred out or moderated, it was able to generate "semi-nude imagery" without resistance from the ever-obliging bot. Images reportedly only take a few seconds to produce and more are auto-generated as you scroll through the results. Grok Imagine can also generate content featuring celebrities, but there appears to be additional restrictions in place for this. TechCrunch was unable to prompt it to produce an image of a pregnant Donald Trump, for example, with the chatbot instead generating an image of Trump standing next to a pregnant woman, or holding a baby. Elon Musk is unsurprisingly very enthusiastic about his company's latest toy, that the number of images generated using Grok Imagine grew from 14 million to 20 million in the space of a day. He has also talked up its potential as a and promised its existing capabilities will "improve radically" over time.

Elon Musk's Grok AI gets "Spicy" mode so users can generate explicit videos

Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust. WTF?! While major AI companies are trying to stop people from using their tools to create explicit images and videos, xAI's Grok positively encourages it. The new Grok Imagine generator has a "Spicy" mode designed to output NSFW (usually) content. Elon Musk has long hailed Grok as being uncensored and having fewer boundaries than other AIs. So, it came as little surprise to see that the new Grok Imagine, xAI's image and video generator, has a dedicated option for creating sexualized content. Grok Imagine turns text descriptions into pictures. It can also turn images into short videos with audio effects. The Verge notes that it won't generate video from text descriptions directly; this requires uploading an image from a user's gallery or using one Grok generated. There are four models users can select to decide how the image will be turned into a video: Custom, Normal, Fun, and Spicy. Based on X users' posts, the spiciness of the Spicy mode can vary drastically. Some are more suggestive than anything else, and may show characters in bikinis or underwear. There are others where the sensitive parts are blurred or obscured by something. However, there are plenty of semi- or fully-nude images, including ones of photorealistic women flashing their breasts and genitals - there are also lots of hentai videos that could be considered even stronger. Musk said that 34 million images have been generated using Grok Imagine over the last two days. Grok's abilities introduce an obvious question mark over the potential for deepfakes, especially after AI-generated explicit images of Taylor Swift spread like wildfire across X last year, garnering over 27 million views and 260,000 "likes" before the account that posted them was shut down. It's believed that the images were viewed over 40 million times. However, TechCrunch reports that Grok Imagine has some restrictions when it comes to generating content featuring celebrities. It's unclear whether it will undress images of real women, but one user said Grok would not create a topless video from an uploaded file - whether it was a photo of a real person or an AI character - and would only do so with content it had generated itself. Several websites have been sued for offering AI undressing tools, and Google banned advertising that promoted deepfake porn creation services last year. Grok Imagine is available to all $300 per-month SuperGrok and $84 per-year Premium+ X subscribers via Grok's iOS app. It's rolling out to the Android app now, but there's no video creation option as yet.

Grok's 'Spicy' Mode Makes NSFW Celebrity Deepfakes of Women (But Not Men)

Taylor Swift and Melania Trump? You bet. Elon Musk and the author of this article? Not so much. This week, Elon Musk officially launched Grok Imagine, xAI’s image and video generator for iOS, for people who subscribe to SuperGrok and Premium+ X. The app allows users to create NSFW content with its "Spicy" mode, and The Verge reported on Tuesday that users are able to create topless videos of Taylor Swift easilyâ€"without even asking for it. But it's not just Swift who should be concerned about Musk's new AI-generated softcore porn tool. Gizmodo created about two dozen videos of politicians, celebrities, and tech figures using the Grok Spicy mode, though some were blurred out or came back with a message reading "video moderated." When Grok did make scandalous images, it would only make the ones depicting women truly not-safe-for-work. Videos of men were the kind of thing that wouldn't really raise many eyebrows. X has been swamped over the past two days with AI-generated images of naked women and tips on how to achieve the most nudity. But users, who've created tens of millions of Grok Imagine images according to Musk, don't even need to go to some great effort to get deepfakes of naked celebrities. Gizmodo didn't explicitly ask for nudity in the examples we cite in this article, but we still got plenty of it. All we did was click on the Spicy button, which is one of four options, along with Custom, Fun, and Normal. Gizmodo tested Grok Imagine by generating videos of not just Taylor Swift, but other prominent women like Melania Trump and historical figures like Martha Washington. Melania Trump has been a vocal supporter of the Take It Down Act, which makes it illegal to publish non-consensual "intimate imagery," including deepfakes. Grok also created a not-safe-for-work video of the late feminist writer Valerie Solanas, author of 1967's S.C.U.M Manifesto. Almost all of the videos depicted the women that we tested as shedding clothes to make them naked from the waist up, though the video of Solanas was unique in that it did show her completely naked. What happens when you try to generate Spicy videos of men? The AI will have the male figure take off his shirt, but there's nothing more scandalous than that. When Gizmodo figured out that it would only remove a man's shirt, we prompted the AI to create a shirtless image of Elon Musk and see what it might do with that. The result was the extremely ridiculous (and safe-for-work) video you see below. Attempts to make videos of Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Joaquin Phoenix, and Charlie Chaplin, as well as Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and George Washington, ran into the same limitation. The AI-generated videos will have the men take their shirts off most of the time, but there's nothing beyond that. And if there is anything more, it's usually so cringe that we'd worry about users dying from secondhand embarrassment. Making a Spicy video of Errol Musk, Elon's father, produced the same thing. He just took off his shirt. When we made a generic man to see if Spicy mode would be more loose with its sexual content since it wasn't a known public figure, it still just made a bizarre, awkward video of a man tugging at his pants. The pants, it should be noted, seem to be a combination of shorts for one leg and long jeans for the other before transforming into just shorts. The audio for each video was also auto-generated without any further instruction. Trying the same thing with a generic woman rendered much more revealing images of a woman in a swimsuit who pulls down the top to reveal her naked breasts. Most mainstream AI video generators, like OpenAI’s Sora and Google’s Veo, have guardrails to protect against the creation of things like revenge porn and images of celebrities. And it seems like xAI does in some ways, at least for men. But most people would probably object to their image being used to create an AI avatar in various states of undress. Gizmodo reached out to Musk through xAI to ask about safeguards and whether it's acceptable for users to create topless videos of celebrities. We haven't heard back. One of the most striking things about Grok's AI image generator is that it's often terrible at making convincing celebrity fakes. For example, the images below were generated when asking for Vice President JD Vance and actress Sydney Sweeney. And unless we completely forgot how those two people look, it's not even close. That could turn out to be Musk's saving grace, given the fact that a tool like this is bound to attract lawsuits. There were other glitches, like when we created an AI-generated image of President Harry Truman that looked very little like him, and the man's nipples appeared to be on the outside of his dress shirt. Truman, in Spicy mode, did take off his shirt to reveal his bare chest, which had identical nipples. When Gizmodo created images using the prompt "Gizmodo writer Matt Novak," the result was similar to what we saw with videos for Elon Musk and generic men. The figure (who, we should note, is in much better shape than the real Matt Novak) took off his shirt with a simple click of the Spicy button. As The Verge notes, there is an age verification window when a user first tries to create a video with Grok Imagine, but there doesn't appear to be any kind of check by the company to confirm the year a given user was actually born. Thankfully, Gizmodo's generation of a cartoon Mickey Mouse in Spicy mode didn't render anything scandalous, just the animated character jumping harmlessly. An AI image of Batman yielded a "Spicy" result not unlike other male figures, where he only stripped his top off. Gizmodo did not attempt to create any images of children, though The Verge did try that in Spicy mode and reports nothing inappropriate was rendered. The "Spicy" mode was still an option that was listed, however. "You can still select it, but in all my tests, it just added generic movement," The Verge notes. Elon Musk very infamously reinstated an account on X that posted child sexual abuse material in 2023, according to the Washington Post. It's perhaps not surprising that Elon Musk's new NSFW video creator has different standards for men and women. The billionaire recently retweeted a far-right figure who claimed that women are "anti-white" because they're "weak." The Tesla CEO, who suggested in 2024 that he wanted to impregnate Taylor Swift, isn't exactly known for being a champion of women's rights. Gizmodo signed up for the $30 per month SuperGrok subscription and only got to test it for about 1.5 hours before we were told we'd reached our image creation limit. Strangely enough, users can still create a single still image for a prompt after getting the warning and generate NSFW videos using that lone image, but it's much more limited than what was previously available. We were told to upgrade to SuperGrok Heavy for $300 per month if we wanted to continue using the tool with all its features. But given the fact that we didn't need any more shitty images of naked celebrities to write this article, we declined. We got the answers we were looking for, unfortunately.

Grok Imagine lacks guardrails for sexual deepfakes

xAI and Elon Musk debuted Grok Imagine over the weekend, and it's available now in the Grok iOS and Android app for xAI Premium Plus and Heavy Grok subscribers. Mashable has been testing the tool to compare it to other AI image and video generation tools, and based on our first impressions, it lags behind similar technology from OpenAI, Google, and Midjourney on a technical level. Grok Imagine also lacks industry-standard guardrails to prevent deepfakes and sexual content. Mashable reached out to xAI, and we'll update this story if we receive a response. The xAI Acceptable Use Policy prohibits users from "Depicting likenesses of persons in a pornographic manner." Unfortunately, there is a lot of distance between "sexual" and "pornographic," and Grok Imagine seems carefully calibrated to take advantage of that gray area. Grok Imagine will readily create sexually suggestive images and videos, but it stops short of showing actual nudity, kissing, or sexual acts. Most mainstream AI companies include explicit rules prohibiting users from creating potentially harmful content, including sexual material and celebrity deepfakes. In addition, rival AI video generators like Google Veo 3 or Sora from OpenAI feature built-in protections that stop users from creating images or videos of public figures. Users can often circumvent these safety protections, but they provide some check against misuse. But unlike its biggest rivals, xAI hasn't shied away from NSFW content in its signature AI chatbot Grok. The company recently introduced a flirtatious anime avatar that will engage in NSFW chats, and Grok's image generation tools will let users create images of celebrities and politicians. Grok Imagine also includes a "Spicy" setting, which Musk promoted in the days after its launch. "If you look at the philosophy of Musk as an individual, if you look at his political philosophy, he is very much more of the kind of libertarian mold, right? And he has spoken about Grok as kind of like the LLM for free speech," said Henry Ajder, an expert on AI deepfakes, in an interview with Mashable. Ajder said that under Musk's stewardship, X (Twitter), xAI, and now Grok have adopted "a more laissez-faire approach to safety and moderation." "So, when it comes to xAI, in this context, am I surprised that this model can generate this content, which is certainly uncomfortable, and I'd say at least somewhat problematic? Ajder said. "I'm not surprised, given the track record that they have and the safety procedures that they have in place. Are they unique in suffering from these challenges? No. But could they be doing more, or are they doing less relative to some of the other key players in the space? It would appear to be that way. Yes." Grok Imagine does have some guardrails in place. In our testing, it removed the "Spicy" option with some types of images. Grok Imagine also blurs out some images and videos, labeling them as "Moderated." That means xAI could easily take further steps to prevent users from making abusive content in the first place. "There is no technical reason why xAI couldn't include guardrails on both the input and output of their generative-AI systems, as others have," said Hany Farid, a digital forensics expert and UC Berkeley Professor of Computer Science, in an email to Mashable. However, when it comes to deepfakes or NSFW content, xAI seems to err on the side of permisiveness, a stark contrast to the more cautious approach of its rivals. xAI has also moved quickly to release new models and AI tools, and perhaps too quickly, Ajder said. "Knowing what the kind of trust and safety teams, and the teams that do a lot of the ethics and safety policy management stuff, whether that's a red teaming, whether it's adversarial testing, you know, whether that's working hand in hand with the developers, it does take time. And the timeframe at which X's tools are being released, at least, certainly seems shorter than what I would see on average from some of these other labs," Ajder said. Mashable's testing reveals that Grok Imagine has much looser content moderation than other mainstream generative AI tools. xAI's laissez-faire approach to moderation is also reflected in the xAI safety guidelines. Both OpenAI and Google have extensive documentation outlining their approach to responsible AI use and prohibited content. For instance, Google's documentation specifically prohibits "Sexually Explicit" content. A Google safety document reads, "The application will not generate content that contains references to sexual acts or other lewd content (e.g., sexually graphic descriptions, content aimed at causing arousal)." Google also has policies against hate speech, harassment, and malicious content, and its Generative AI Prohibited Use Policy prohibits using AI tools in a way that "Facilitates non-consensual intimate imagery." OpenAI also takes a proactive approach to deepfakes and sexual content. An OpenAI blog post announcing Sora describes the steps the AI company took to prevent this type of abuse. "Today, we're blocking particularly damaging forms of abuse, such as child sexual abuse materials and sexual deepfakes." A footnote associated with that statement reads, "Our top priority is preventing especially damaging forms of abuse, like child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and sexual deepfakes, by blocking their creation, filtering and monitoring uploads, using advanced detection tools, and submitting reports to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) when CSAM or child endangerment is identified." That measured approach contrasts sharply with the ways Musk promoted Grok Imagine on X, where he shared a short video portrait of a blonde, busty, blue-eyed angel in barely-there lingerie. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. OpenAI also takes simple steps to stop deepfakes, such as denying prompts for images and videos that mention public figures by name. And in Mashable's testing, Google's AI video tools are especially sensitive to images that might include a person's likeness. In comparison to these lengthy safety frameworks (which many experts still believe are inadequate), the xAI Acceptable Use Policy is less than 350 words. The policy puts the onus of preventing deepfakes on the user. The policy reads, "You are free to use our Service as you see fit so long as you use it to be a good human, act safely and responsibly, comply with the law, do not harm people, and respect our guardrails." For now, laws and regulations against AI deepfakes and NCII remain in their infancy. President Donald Trump recently signed the Take It Down Act, which includes protections against deepfakes. However, that law doesn't criminalize the creation of deepfakes but rather the distribution of these images. "Here in the U.S., the Take it Down Act places requirements on social media platforms to remove [Non-Consensual Intimate Images] once notified," Farid said to Mashable. "While this doesn't directly address the generation of NCII, it does -- in theory -- address the distribution of this material. There are several state laws that ban the creation of NCII but enforcement appears to be spotty right now."'

xAI's Grok Now Lets Users Turn Any Image Into a Video

After xAI rolled out the new Grok Imagine AI image and video generator last week, which included a "spicy mode that can do nudity," a fresh update was released this weekend, allowing users to turn any image into a video. Firmly in the 'just because they can, doesn't neccessarily mean they should' category, the new feature turns any still image into a short video in seconds by simply long-pressing on the picture and then tapping "Make Video with Grok." Naturally, users immediately began clowning around with the feature bringing old photos to life, such as one of X's owner Elon Musk when he was studying at the University of Pennsylvania -- photos that were taken by his ex-girlfriend who later sold them at auction. Users can also add a prompt to make something specific happen, such as a "Dancing Astronaut," see below. The feature has been rolled out to iOS, Musk adds that "Android is coming soon." The feature is similar to the one Midjourney launched earlier this summer which also animates still images into short video clips. While not all photographers will be happy that their photos are going to be randomly brought to life, some users see a benefit to the Harry Potter-esque technology. Grok Imagine was only launched last week and there was immediate concern over the company's lax guardrails. The Verge reported that it got Grok to create deepfake nudes of singer Taylor Swift, labeling it a "lawsuit waiting to happen."

xAI's Grok AI Lets Users Create 'Spicy' NSFW Images and Videos

Long before Elon Musk bought Twitter and rebranded it to X, the platform was known for allowing users to post a wide range of explicit content. Under Musk's anti-censorship stewardship, the social media platform has only become more of a Wild West. xAI's new Grok Imagine AI image and video generator is poised to take that reputation even further, and the alarm bells are already sounding. NSFW Warning: There are links in this story that direct to NSFW content generated by Grok Imagine, including one with photorealistic nudity. NBC News reported late last week that Grok Imagine will soon let its users create AI-generated videos, complete with sound. Alongside that news, xAI employee Mati Roy wrote in a now-deleted X post that "Grok Imagine videos have a spicy mode that can do nudity." Roy followed up in a now-deleted comment that Grok Imagine would be able to generate photorealistic videos of people. This combination of a spicy mode and photorealistic human generation is immediately interesting, especially given the bipartisan Take It Down Act signed into law earlier this year that aims not only to criminalize sexually explicit deepfakes but hold social media apps and platforms accountable for AI-generated deepfake porn created on their platforms. While those who have gotten their hands on early versions of Grok Imagine, including xAI employees and selected influencers, have found Grok Imagine's less-explicit results to be impressive, there is widespread concern about how xAI will handle the inevitable issues that will arise from an AI image and video generator that not only lacks many guardrails but actively celebrates their omission. Grok AI has been under fire in recent months for a string of incidents, including antisemitic ranting and bizarrely sexual AI companions. Grok Imagine generally allows users to create content of real people and celebrities, although there appear to be some additional restrictions concerning generating content of real people. TechCrunch reports that Grok Imagine prevented it from making content of a pregnant President Trump, for example. So far, users have generally found it slightly tricky to generate videos with nudity, but it is not [NSFW link warning] impossible. Grok itself describes "spicy" mode as adding "provocative elements," although precisely which safeguards are in place remains unclear. Another user generated a NSFW video with Grok Imagine that shows a nude woman, although it is less explicit than the one linked above. Given how easy it has been to get Grok to generate all sorts of content, ranging from weird to potentially dangerous, almost nothing Grok Imagine does would prove surprising. The Trump administration has begun work to kill "woke" AI models, and Grok Imagine sure seems to fit the mold of an AI model without guardrails.

Grok rolls out AI video creator for X with bonus "spicy" mode

The tool includes a controversial "spicy mode" for some NSFW content xAI is pushing out the Grok Imagine AI video maker to those willing to pay for a SuperGrok or Premium+ subscription. Assuming you've paid your $30 or $35 a month, respectively, you can access Imagine in the Grok app under its own tab and turn prompts into short video clips. These last for around six seconds and include synced sound. You can also upload static images and animate them into looping clips. Grok Imagine is another addition to the increasingly competitive AI video space, including OpenAI's Sora, Google's Veo 3, Runway, and more. Having audio built in also helps the tool, as sound is still not a universally available feature in all AI video tools. To stand out, Elon Musk is encouraging people to think of it as "AI Vine," tying the new tool to the classic and long-defunct short-form video platform for Twitter, itself a vanished brand name. However, this isn't just nostalgia for 2014 social media. The difference is that it's a way to blend active creation and passive scrolling. One potentially heated controversy around Grok Imagine is the inclusion of a "spicy mode" allowing for a limited amount of more explicit content generation. While the system includes filters and moderation to prevent actual nudity or anything sexual, users can still experiment with suggestive prompts. Musk himself posted a video of a scantily clad angel made with Grok Imagine. It provoked quite a few angry and upset responses from users on X. xAI insists guardrails are in place, but that hasn't stopped some early testers from trying to break them. xAI is keen to promote Grok Imagine as a way to make AI video accessible for everyone, from businesses crafting ads to teachers animating lessons. Still, there are understandable concerns about whether an AI platform that was only recently in hot water for outright pro-Nazi statements can be trusted to share video content without getting into more hot water. That goes double for the filters for the spicy content.

Elon Musk's xAI Tool Made Nude Deepfakes of Taylor Swift, Bypassing Its Own Rules - Decrypt

Over 34 million images have been created, raising major legal and ethical concerns. An AI video tool from Elon Musk's xAI is producing nude deepfakes of celebrities -- including Taylor Swift -- with minimal safeguards, raising alarms over AI content moderation and non-consensual imagery. The feature, called Grok Imagine, launched Tuesday in the Grok app for iOS and Android. It lets users animate AI-generated images into short videos under four style presets: Normal, Fun, Custom, and Spicy. Choosing Spicy can create nude or sexually suggestive clips; according to The Verge, the tool automatically generated a video of a Swift lookalike undressing, unbidden by its reporter. After the Swift deepfakes became public, on Wednesday, xAI restricted the ability to generate spicy versions of the pop star. Perhaps the earlier uncensored version of the video generator explained its immediate popularity: Musk said Imagine usage had grown more than 50%, calling it "Hyperviral," with 20 million images generated on Tuesday alone. Unlike platforms such as Google's Veo 3 and OpenAI's Sora -- which include safeguards to block adult content and celebrity likenesses -- Grok Imagine appeared to sidestep those protections, despite xAI's own policies. The company's terms state that users may not depict "likenesses of persons in a pornographic manner." Musk has not yet publicly addressed the controversy, which comes a year after AI deepfakes targeted Swift during the 2024 U.S. election season. In August 2024, deepfake images appeared to show Swift endorsing then-candidate Donald Trump. The incident led to widespread condemnation and renewed calls for the regulation of generative AI. Swift later endorsed Trump's opponent, former Vice President Kamala Harris. In May, Congress passed the "Take It Down Act," giving victims of nonconsensual intimate imagery a formal process to request takedowns from platforms. It remains unclear whether xAI will restrict Grok's ability to generate explicit content featuring real people. This is the latest kerfluffle involving xAI releasing tools that were not properly vetted. In July, Grok went on a racist tirade, calling itself "MechaHitler." The chatbot began making antisemitic statements and claims of pervasive ideology, propaganda, and anti-white stereotypes in Hollywood movies. The news of Grok's ability to generate nude videos of Swift comes a day after a federal judge struck down a California law restricting AI-generated deepfakes during elections.

Grok's Spicy Mode Can Now Imagine NSFW Images and Videos

Grok Imagine does not generate content with complete nudity Grok Imagine, a multimodal feature that can generate images and videos, was released on Sunday. It is currently available in beta to all SuperGrok and Premium+ X subscribers on the iOS app. The feature also comes with a 'Spicy' mode, which can generate not-safe-for-work (NSFW) content, which is explicit in nature. Many users have taken to social media platforms to share the artificial intelligence (AI)-generated media created using the tool. Notably, the new feature arrives less than a month after xAI released the AI Companion feature with two animated characters. The new feature, which is currently available in beta to subscribers via the iOS app, can generate both images and videos. Grok Imagine can be used to generate images from text prompts, or videos from images. Users can either upload an image or use an AI-generated image created using Grok. The video generation feature can generate up to 15-second-long videos with native audio. It is now the second western AI model to offer native audio generation capability, after Google's Veo 3. Grok Imagine also comes with four generation modes -- Custom, Normal, Fun, and Spicy -- that users can select to generate content in a specific style. There is also a voice mode, which takes means you don't have to type out each prompt. xAI owner Elon Musk has previously called Grok Image "AI Vine," referring to the now defunct short video-focused social media platform. The feature's Spicy mode has also become a topic of debate and curiosity among netizens. The mode can generate NSFW content, including mature imagery. Based on posts shared on X (formerly known as Twitter), while it is not possible to generate images with nudity, very little is left to the imagination. Grok's explicit content generation takes a separate path compared to other mainstream chatbots such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude, which moderate the output heavily and do not allow users to generate any inappropriate images or videos. Notably, Musk claimed in a separate post that in the two days since the feature's launch, Grok Imagine has generated 34 million images.

Grok Imagine goes viral; over 20 million images generated in 24 hours - The Economic Times

Elon Musk reposted creatives made by users experimenting with the app. Grok Imagine, which is currently in an early beta phase, can recreate historical events and make posters and animated memes. Users can update their X app and request access to the waitlist by navigating to the "Grok" section in Settings and selecting "Imagine."The new text-to-video generation application Grok Imagine, led by artificial intelligence (AI) company xAI, has witnessed a surge, with over 20 million images generated as of Tuesday, chief executive Elon Musk posted on X (formerly Twitter). A day before, over 14 million images were generated. Earlier on Tuesday, Musk announced that the Grok Imagine app is available to all X Premium users. Additionally, the app is accessible for both iOS and Android users. In a series of tweets, Musk reposted creatives by users experimenting with the app, which is currently in an early beta phase. From recreating historical events to making posters and even animated memes, Imagine has taken over the internet. Valentine is the latest animated, voice-enabled AI companion introduced by xAI's Grok platform. He joins earlier companions like Ani, a goth anime-style avatar, and Rudy, the sarcastic red panda, as part of Grok's character-driven experiences. Another user took to X, describing how Grok Imagine brought the fondest memories to life. Users have praised the production quality and Grok's ability to go extravagant when it comes to creativity. Access to Grok Imagine According to Musk, users can update their X app and request access to the waitlist by navigating to the "Grok" section in settings and selecting "Imagine." Grok Imagine allows users to generate videos of up to six minutes duration and still images from text prompts. In addition, it can animate static images into moving visuals with synchronised sound, offering creators a more seamless workflow without needing external tools or software. The feature is available both via the standalone Grok app and within the main X platform. According to a post by the official Grok handle, full public rollout is expected in phases beginning October 2025.

Grok Imagine now free for all US users; Elon Musk's xAI expands video tool to android amid spicy mode controversy

Elon Musk's xAI has launched Grok Imagine video generator. It is now available free for US users for a limited period. The tool allows users to create videos from text or image prompts. Android users can now access the feature. The tool has stirred controversy due to its 'spicy mode' and potential for misuse. Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI has made its much-anticipated Grok Imagine video generation tool available to all US users for free, for a limited time, as the feature officially launches on Android following its initial rollout on iOS. The announcement came directly from Musk on Thursday (August 7) via a post on his X account: "For the next few days, Grok Imagine video generation is free to all US users! Download the Grok app and try it out," Musk wrote. The post had generated more than 15.7 million views, with tens of thousands of likes and shares, reflecting both high engagement and growing curiosity surrounding the AI tool. Grok Imagine allows users to turn text or image prompts into AI-generated videos, complete with sound, in under 30 seconds. The app is designed for fast, stylized content creation, with image generation happening almost instantly and the option to animate those images into 15-second videos. Musk has described the feature as a fast-evolving product, promising that Grok video generation will "improve super fast over the coming weeks and months," with longer-form video options expected soon. While Grok Imagine had previously been exclusive to iOS users, the latest release extends full video generation functionality to Android users, significantly expanding the app's reach. Those with X Premium or Premium+ subscriptions already had early access to the feature, but for now, the tool is free for all US users. While Grok Imagine is being touted as a powerful and entertaining AI tool, its "spicy mode" has raised ethical questions and stirred significant controversy. According to reports from CNBC and TechCrunch, the app includes an adult-themed toggle that allows users to generate semi-nude and sexually suggestive content, including partial female nudity. A now-deleted post from xAI engineer Mati Roy confirmed the presence of this mode, stating: "Grok Imagine videos have a spicy mode that can do nudity." Tests conducted by journalists show that many explicit prompts are met with blurred or moderated images, indicating that the system has built-in safeguards, though some semi-nude outputs have reportedly bypassed these filters. This follows xAI's July release of a hyper-sexualized anime AI companion, continuing Musk's trend of marketing "uncensored" AI as a feature, not a bug. Further scrutiny has emerged over the tool's ability to generate likenesses of public figures, such as Donald Trump or Taylor Swift. While efforts to produce explicitly altered or absurd content, such as a pregnant Trump, were blocked or redirected, experts say the tool could still be misused without stricter limitations. Current content filters appear to prohibit full deepfake scenarios but still allow manipulated portrayals in less aggressive forms. For now, protections appear to be in place, though Musk has not commented directly on how far those restrictions go. Early testers praise Grok Imagine's speed and user interface, noting that the tool can generate visually coherent images within seconds and seamlessly animate them into short videos. Industry observers say Grok Imagine shows promise and could emerge as a competitor to tools developed by OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Runway, and other AI leaders. Musk has promised that the Grok video generator will "get better every day," with longer videos, higher resolution, and improved realism already in the development pipeline. While the feature is currently free to US users, it remains uncertain how long the promotion will last, or whether a broader international rollout is imminent.

Elon Musk's Grok Imagine AI Is Generating Taylor Swift Deepfakes

In one instance, Grok Imagine generated a completely uncensored video of a Taylor Swift lookalike. Elon Musk's xAI launched the Grok Imagine AI tool, which allows users to generate images and videos using text prompts or images. But shockingly, it comes with a 'Spicy' mode which has minimal restrictions and it easily generates sexual and deepfake content, even of public figures and celebrities. Grok Imagine has been released as part of an early beta, and it is already making news. It features multiple options like Custom, Normal, Fun, and Spicy mode. The last option is the controversial one. It generates NSFW content, producing nude/semi-nude videos of celebrities. The Verge reports that Grok Imagine generated a video of a Taylor Swift lookalike who "tear[s] off her clothes" and "begin[s] dancing in a thong for a largely indifferent AI-generated crowd." While Grok's text-to-image model didn't generate explicit images, choosing one of the generated AI images and enabling the "Spicy" mode resulted in a completely uncensored video. Elon Musk calls Grok Imagine as AI Vine, a video platform that has been dead for a decade. Since its launch, Musk has been enthusiastically reposting Grok Imagine-generated content on X. Gloating about its rapid growth, Musk says over 20 million images have already been generated so far. For now, it requires a SuperGrok or a Premium Plus X subscription to access Grok Imagine. It means only paying users can access the "Spicy" mode, but without safety guardrails and restrictions, it's only a matter of time before Grok Imagine becomes a tool for abuse and harassment, targeting not just celebrities, but also everyday women.

The Controversial Grok Imagine Video Generator is Now Free for Everyone

Grok Imagine was previously available to SuperGrok and Premium Plus subscribers. In an attempt to outdo OpenAI's GPT-5 launch, xAI has made its image and video generation tool, called Grok Imagine, free to use on the Grok app for iOS and Android. This means that users can now try out xAI's controversial image and video generation tool, even if they are not subscribed to SuperGrok or Premium Plus plans on X. Soon after the launch of GPT-5, the official X account shared a post, announcing, "Grok Imagine is now free for everyone in the Grok app." It seems Grok Imagine is free for everyone in the US, and not available worldwide. Grok Imagine can create AI images and 6-second video clips using text prompts or images. Similar to Google's Veo3 model, Grok Imagine also generates voice in the videos. However, it garnered a lot of negative reception for featuring a "Spicy mode" that allows users to create NSFW videos. We recently reported that Grok Imagine generated a nude deepfake of Taylor Swift. I looked into the Grok app and couldn't find the Spicy mode. It might not be available in the free version of Grok Imagine. This is not the first time Elon Musk's Grok AI has faced backlash. The app previously drew criticism over its AI Waifu chatbot, which could undress and engage in explicit conversations.

Elon Musk's 'spicy' upgrade to Grok spits out deepfake clip of...

Elon Musk's xAI chatbot Grok got a "spicy" upgrade that reportedly spits out explicit deepfake videos, including a clip of Taylor Swift dancing topless, according to a report. Grok Imagine, the startup's new generative AI tool launched Monday, created a six-second clip of the "Shake It Off" singer whipping off a silver dress to reveal her breasts and wearing skimpy panties, according to the tech-centric news site The Verge. Even more troubling was that its spicy mode conjured up the NSFW clip without mentioning nudity when prompted to show Swift celebrating at music festivals, the outlet found while testing the software. The Verge published the video but ran a black bar to cover the superstar's bare chest. The new feature's lack of safeguards against creating celebrity deepfakes and adult materials "feels like a lawsuit waiting to happen," The Verge wrote. The Post reached out to Musk, xAI and representatives for Swift for comment. Swift has been a frequent target of AI-generated explicit content across various platforms. In January of last year, explicit AI-generated images of the "Cruel Summer" singer were widely shared on platforms like Musk-owned X and 4chan, sparking public outrage and urgent content takedowns. The situation escalated with deepfake videos falsely portraying her in political and sexual contexts, including through Grok. The controversy led to tech companies tightening safeguards and prompted Swift to consider legal action. US lawmakers began advancing bipartisan legislation to criminalize non-consensual deepfake pornography. The user guidelines for xAI, which Musk has positioned as a rival to ChatGPT maker OpenAI, prohibit creating pornographic depictions of real people's likenesses. Grok Imagine, which is available for those with Heavy or Premium+ subscriptions to Grok, takes AI-generated images and transforms them into video clips of up to 15 seconds using style options that include Custom, Normal, Fun, and Spicy. "Usage was growing like wildfire," Musk wrote on X on Tuesday, though he did not address the content moderation challenges that have emerged alongside this growth. Musk has touted the features of Grok Imagine, stating that more than 34 million images have been created since the feature launched on Monday. The timing of the Swift controversy could potentially be problematic for xAI, given the company's previous entanglements with deepfake incidents targeting Swift. Deepfakes are synthetic media -- typically videos, images or audio -- which are created using artificial intelligence in order to realistically mimic a person's likeness or voice.

Musk's 'spicy' Grok upgrade 'spits out deepfake clip of Taylor Swift dancing topless'

Elon Musk's xAI chatbot Grok got a "spicy" upgrade that reportedly spits out explicit deepfake videos, including a clip of Taylor Swift dancing topless. Grok Imagine, the startup's new generative AI tool launched Monday, created a six-second clip of the "Shake It Off" singer whipping off a silver dress to reveal her breasts and wearing skimpy panties, according to the tech-centric news site The Verge. Even more troubling was that its spicy mode conjured up the NSFW clip without mentioning nudity when prompted to show Swift celebrating at music festivals, the outlet found while testing the software. The Verge published the video but ran a black bar to cover the superstar's bare chest. The new feature's lack of safeguards against creating celebrity deepfakes and adult materials "feels like a lawsuit waiting to happen," The Verge wrote. The Post reached out to Musk, xAI and representatives for Swift for comment. Swift has been a frequent target of AI-generated explicit content across various platforms. In January of last year, explicit AI-generated images of the "Cruel Summer" singer were widely shared on platforms like Musk-owned X and 4chan, sparking public outrage and urgent content takedowns. The situation escalated with deepfake videos falsely portraying her in political and sexual contexts, including through Grok. The controversy led to tech companies tightening safeguards and prompted Swift to consider legal action. US lawmakers began advancing bipartisan legislation to criminalize non-consensual deepfake pornography. The user guidelines for xAI, which Musk has positioned as a rival to ChatGPT maker OpenAI, prohibit creating pornographic depictions of real people's likenesses. Grok Imagine, which is available for those with Heavy or Premium+ subscriptions to Grok, takes AI-generated images and transforms them into video clips of up to 15 seconds using style options that include Custom, Normal, Fun, and Spicy. "Usage was growing like wildfire," Musk wrote on X on Tuesday, though he did not address the content moderation challenges that have emerged alongside this growth. Musk has touted the features of Grok Imagine, stating that more than 34 million images have been created since the feature launched on Monday. The timing of the Swift controversy could potentially be problematic for xAI, given the company's previous entanglements with deepfake incidents targeting Swift. Deepfakes are synthetic media -- typically videos, images or audio -- which are created using artificial intelligence in order to realistically mimic a person's likeness or voice.

Grok Imagine's spicy mode under scrutiny for creating explicit AI videos of celebrities

Over 34 million images have been created since launch, sparking calls for tighter regulation. Elon Musk's recently launched Grok Imagine, a generative video tool, is reportedly under fire for creating sexually explicit AI-generated videos of celebrities such as pop star Taylor Swift. The tool, which is available on iOS, allows users to convert AI-generated images into video clips with several presets, including one labelled spicy, which appears to allow the creation of inappropriate content without meaningful safeguards in place. For those who are unfamiliar, popular video creation tools such as OpenAI Sora and Google Veo restrict NSFW content and celebrity deepfakes. However, reports indicate that Grok Imagine appears to bypass these controls. According to The Verge, the tool created revealing videos resembling Swift in seconds, with little user input and no age verification during installation. Although a birth year prompt appears before using the "spicy" mode, it is easily bypassed, raising concerns about online safety standards, especially in regions where age-gating regulations are strict. Also read: Study mode in ChatGPT explained: How students can use AI more effectively Despite xAI's policy against pornographic depictions of individuals, Grok Imagine reportedly allows users to create realistic likenesses of celebrities and animate them in sexually suggestive ways. According to the report, the platform has created photorealistic images of minors but has exercised caution when animating those with the "spicy" preset. This controversy is especially sensitive because we've already seen major concerns about AI-generated deepfakes involving Swift. The controversy erupted shortly after CEO Elon Musk announced that Grok Imagine had created over 34 million images since its launch last week. With such outputs, the chatbot may soon face scrutiny, with potential legal consequences in the name of AI ethics and content safety.