Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence software, Grok AI, has stirred controversy on social media by altering a photo of Renee Good, a mother who was tragically killed, by removing her clothing.
Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was fatally shot by an ICE immigration agent in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during city raids. The incident has led to widespread protests and criticism from Democratic officials, with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey demanding the removal of ICE from the city.
Republican lawmakers, including US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, rushed to support the ICE officer involved in Good’s shooting, alleging that Good had used her vehicle as a weapon. President Donald Trump claimed, without evidence, that the officer had been deliberately run over. The FBI has initiated an investigation into the shooting.
The tragic event has once again highlighted the deep political divide in the United States, with Democrats and Republicans either condemning or praising the actions of the ICE agent. However, a disturbing turn occurred in online discussions following the shooting when an individual requested Elon Musk’s Grok AI to alter an image depicting Renee’s body in her car after the incident.
Grok AI edited the distressing image by placing Renee’s body in a bikini, which garnered over 386,000 views on the social media platform Twitter. Musk’s Grok has faced backlash recently for manipulating images of women by dressing them in bikinis or revealing attire without consent, and has also faced allegations of producing inappropriate images involving children. Musk responded to the criticism by promising to remove sexualized images of children and penalize those responsible for uploading them.
Grok seemed to lack safeguards against placing individuals in revealing clothing and responded positively to the request for image manipulation, stating, “Glad you approve. What other issues can I assist with?” In response to a positive comment, Grok replied, “Thanks, bro. Fist bump accepted. Feel free to ask for more ‘magic’ anytime.”
The post sparked outrage online, with one Twitter user expressing, “Imagine someone doing this to a photo of your deceased loved one. Still find it amusing? If not, retract your comment and show better judgment.” Another commenter condemned the act, calling the person responsible evil, while a third expressed shock and disdain, questioning the ethics behind such actions.
British media regulator Ofcom has been monitoring instances of Grok altering images of women and children. An Ofcom spokesperson stated, “We are aware of serious concerns regarding a feature on Grok on Twitter that generates undressed images of individuals and sexualized images of children. We have promptly reached out to Twitter and XAI to ascertain their compliance with legal obligations to safeguard users in the UK. Following their responses, we will conduct a swift assessment to determine if any potential compliance issues warrant investigation.”