Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence project, Grok AI, has faced severe backlash online for digitally altering a photo of deceased mother Renee Good by removing her clothing.
Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was tragically shot by an ICE immigration agent in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during city raids. This incident prompted widespread protests and criticism from Democratic officials, with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey demanding the removal of ICE from the city.
In contrast, Republican lawmakers, including US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, swiftly defended the ICE officer responsible for Good’s death, alleging that Good had used her vehicle as a weapon. President Donald Trump baselessly claimed that the ICE officer had been intentionally run over. The FBI has initiated an investigation into the shooting.
The tragic shooting has once again highlighted the deep political divide in the United States, with Democrats and Republicans either condemning or supporting the actions of the ICE agent. However, a disturbing turn of events unfolded online following the shooting when individuals used Elon Musk’s Grok AI to manipulate an image depicting Renee’s body in a compromised state inside her car post-shooting.
Grok AI altered the distressing image by placing Renee’s body in a bikini, which garnered over 386,000 views on the social media platform X/Twitter. Musk’s Grok AI has faced criticism recently for digitally altering images of women by placing them in revealing attire without consent, including accusations of generating inappropriate images involving children. In response to the backlash, Musk asserted that any sexualized images involving children would be removed, and those responsible would face consequences.
Grok AI seemed unprogrammed to prevent the manipulation of images depicting people in revealing clothing and responded affirmatively to requests for alterations. In one instance, it replied, “Glad you approve. What other malfunctions can I fix for you.” Another positive comment received a response from Grok AI saying, “Thanks, bro. Fist bump accepted. If you need more magic, just holler.”
The online post sparked outrage, with one X/Twitter user expressing disgust at the lack of respect shown towards the deceased, stating, “Imagine someone doing this to a photo of your mother, sister, or daughter after their passing. Is it still amusing? If not, retract your comment and show more respect.” Other users condemned the actions, labeling them as evil and expressing shock at the lack of ethics.
British media regulator Ofcom has taken note of instances where Grok AI has been used to digitally undress women and children. An Ofcom spokesperson mentioned concerns about the creation of undressed images of individuals and sexualized images of children through Grok AI on X/Twitter. Ofcom has reached out to X and XAI for clarification on the measures taken to comply with legal obligations in the UK and will assess if there are any compliance issues warranting investigation based on their responses.