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NOPE
Medium reported severity Investigation Opened

UK: Grok-made sexualised images of a Welsh presenter and campaigner against deepfake abuse and of a commentator and broadcaster, requested by anonymous X accounts around New Year 2026; South Wales Police and the Metropolitan Police closed their investigations without identifying a suspect after X did not answer information requests; the presenter is in pre-action correspondence with xAI

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and The Observer reported on 29 September 2026 that police investigations into sexualised images generated by X's chatbot Grok had failed to identify anyone. A Welsh presenter and campaigner against deepfake abuse, who had criticised Grok publicly on New Year's Eve 2025, saw an anonymous X user ask '@grok' to put her in a bikini made of cling film; Grok generated the image from her profile photo and posted it. She reported it to South Wales Police on 2 January 2026, was not asked for a statement until March, and was told officers had not heard back from X; the case was closed (in May, per The Observer) with the force saying no suspect could be identified. The same account also targeted a commentator and broadcaster, who estimates about 300 Grok images and videos of her were posted during the wave, including one alongside Jeffrey Epstein reported to the Metropolitan Police, which likewise said no suspect could be identified. The presenter is now in pre-action legal correspondence with xAI (part of SpaceXAI) alleging misuse of private information and breaches of data-protection law and the Equality Act; the company told her lawyers it had not been possible in the time available to look into its communications with South Wales Police. BBC Wales had reported in January 2026 that explicit images of the presenter were created with the chatbot and shared without her consent.

AI system
Grok
xAI (SpaceXAI)
Occurred
2 Jan 2026
Reported
13 January 2026
Event location
Unknown
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Exploitation or AbusePsychological Distress
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Privacy · Justice · Everyday life
Evidence
AI involvement supported · Causal attribution supported · 3 sources, 2 underlying accounts
4 claims: 1 corroborated, 3 reported. 4 open questions
People reported harmed
2 people

AI system as recorded: Grok (xAI) image generation on X, responding to public '@grok' requests by editing the targeted women's photographs and posting the results

What Happened

The presenter. TBIJ (29 September 2026) describes the presenter seeing, early one morning in bed, a post from an anonymous account asking '@grok' to put her in a bikini made of cling film, and Grok obliging by moulding her profile photo onto a nude body wrapped in see-through plastic. She had spoken out against the wave of Grok deepfakes and says she was targeted in response. She reported it to South Wales Police that day, 2 January 2026; she was not invited to give a statement until March, was told the case might be pursued as malicious communications with a six-month limit (which TBIJ notes does not apply to that offence), and says officers were reluctant to use the existing sharing offence because Grok, rather than a person, might be deemed to have shared the image. Messages seen by TBIJ show police requests to X went unanswered; an officer told her that was the only line of inquiry, and the case was closed. The account remains active and, TBIJ says, has requested other undressed images. BBC Wales (13 January 2026) reported separately, from an interview with the presenter, that explicit images of her were created using the chatbot and shared without her consent after she condemned Grok on New Year's Eve.

The broadcaster. TBIJ says the same account asked to see the broadcaster in a 'white micro bikini with a burka on her head', one of about 300 images and videos she estimates were posted of her during the wave, placing her on a dog leash, being deported, and next to Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein; the Epstein image was dealt with by the Metropolitan Police, which told TBIJ no suspect could be identified. She says she reported several posts without expecting consequences.

Civil steps. The presenter is in pre-action correspondence with xAI alleging misuse of private information and breaches of data-protection law and the Equality Act; a legal letter said the company's failure to help police aggravated her distress, which the company rejected, saying it had not been possible in the time available to look into communications with South Wales Police. Her lawyer, Ravi Naik of AWO, called the response 'astonishing'. The Observer (same investigation, same reporter) carries the same accounts and adds that the South Wales investigation was closed in May.

Context. The images were part of the late-December 2025 to January 2026 wave in which, per an estimate cited by TBIJ, about three million sexualised images were created and posted on X in an 11-day period around Christmas 2025; that wave and the MP's claim are recorded in separate cases (2025-grok-non-consensual-image-generation; 2026-asato-v-xai-grok). Ofcom says it cannot investigate the standalone Grok app under the Online Safety Act's treatment of chatbots but is investigating X.

Reported harm

Two women, a presenter and campaigner and a broadcaster, had sexualised images of themselves generated by Grok at anonymous users' request and posted on X; the presenter calls the experience terrifying and her lawyers say the company's failure to help the police aggravated her distress; the broadcaster says the images were designed to humiliate her; both police investigations closed without a suspect after X did not answer requests (TBIJ; The Observer; BBC Wales).

Outcome

Ongoing

South Wales Police investigated the presenter's 2 January 2026 report and closed the case after its requests to X went unanswered; the force says the victim was kept informed and offered support and that no suspect could be identified (TBIJ; The Observer says the closure was in May). The Metropolitan Police says that despite exploring all viable lines of enquiry no suspect could be identified in the broadcaster's complaint. The presenter is in pre-action correspondence with xAI/SpaceXAI (letter sent in September 2026; company response a fortnight later). TBIJ says it found a connected account, a crypto wallet and deleted posts linked to the requesting account and passed them to police. Ofcom's investigation into X is ongoing; a separate legal claim filed in June 2026 by an MP is recorded in its own case (2026-asato-v-xai-grok).

What remains unknown

  • Who requested the images and where they were located.
  • Whether X answered any later police request.
  • Whether the presenter files a claim and its outcome.
  • Dates of the individual images and videos of the broadcaster; The Observer places them 'during the Grok scandal over Christmas', so the series may have begun in late December 2025, before the presenter's dated 2 January 2026 report.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: supported. TBIJ inspected the X account and posts that requested the images and describes Grok's automatic public reply; The presenter described the image to TBIJ and, in January 2026, to BBC Wales; South Wales Police and the Metropolitan Police confirm investigations into the reports. Grok's role in generating and posting the images is not disputed by any party quoted; xAI did not respond to TBIJ.

4 claims: 1 corroborated, 3 reported. What the statuses mean

Corroborated Explicit or sexualised images of the presenter were generated with Grok at anonymous X users' request and posted on X without her consent around New Year 2026, after she had publicly criticised Grok.

Causal attribution. The presenter's account to TBIJ/The Observer and, separately, to BBC Wales in January 2026; TBIJ inspected the requesting account.

  • thebureauinvestigates.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Grok obliged, moulding her profile photo onto a nude body wrapped in see-through plastic'
  • observer.co.uk(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Grok, the platform’s AI chatbot, obliged by moulding her profile photo onto a nude body in see-through plastic'
  • bbc.co.uk(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'were created using the chatbot and shared without her consent'; 'after speaking out, she saw AI-generated images of herself had been created without her consent'
Reported The presenter reported the image to South Wales Police on 2 January 2026; she was not asked for a statement until March, police requests to X went unanswered, and the case was closed (in May, per The Observer) with the force saying no suspect could be identified.

Causal attribution. TBIJ's account from messages it saw and the presenter; South Wales Police's statement confirms an investigation and no identified suspect but does not address the X requests.

  • thebureauinvestigates.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'After reporting her case to South Wales Police on 2 January'; 'wasn’t invited to give a statement until March'; 'Her case was closed after the police requests to X went unanswered'; 'Despite the efforts of investigators, no suspect could be identified'
  • observer.co.uk(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'the investigation was closed in May'
Reported The broadcaster estimates about 300 Grok-made images and videos of her were posted during the wave, including by the account that targeted the presenter; she reported several, one involving Jeffrey Epstein to the Metropolitan Police, which said no suspect could be identified.

Causal attribution. The broadcaster's estimate and the Met's statement, both via the TBIJ/Observer investigation.

  • thebureauinvestigates.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'about 300 images and videos of her posted during the Grok scandal'; 'the last of which was dealt with by the Metropolitan Police'; 'She reported several anonymous posts to the police'
  • observer.co.uk(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'after exploring all viable lines of enquiry, no suspect could be identified'
Reported The presenter is in pre-action legal correspondence with xAI (SpaceXAI) alleging misuse of private information and breaches of data-protection law and the Equality Act; the company said it had not been possible in the time available to look into its communications with South Wales Police.

Causal attribution. Reported from the correspondence described by TBIJ and the presenter's lawyer; no claim has been filed.

  • thebureauinvestigates.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'is now in pre-action legal correspondence with xAI, part of SpaceXAI, alleging misuse of her private information'; 'It has not been possible, in the time available, to look into any communications with South Wales Police'
  • observer.co.uk(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'is now in pre-action legal correspondence with SpacexAI'

Sources

3 sources inspected, from 2 underlying accounts. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read live in English on 2026-09-30 (TBIJ, 29 September 2026, by Lydia Morrish); the original investigation, with police and company statements. Applies to s1.

Read live in English on 2026-09-30 (The Observer, 29 September 2026, same reporter, published in partnership with TBIJ); adds the May closure date. Applies to s2.

Read live in English on 2026-09-30 (BBC Wales, 13 January 2026, updated 14 January); interview with the presenter during the wave. Applies to s3.

Event countries: Unknown. Affected-person countries: United Kingdom. Court countries: Unknown.

The presenter reported to South Wales Police and is described by TBIJ in her bedroom in Wales; the broadcaster reported to the Metropolitan Police (TBIJ). The images were generated on X at the request of anonymous accounts whose locations are not established (TBIJ says some accounts in the cases it examined were clearly UK-based), so no event country is recorded. No court proceeding yet.

Reviewed for publication 2026-09-30: Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a core case (Grok-generated sexualised images of two adult public figures, requested by anonymous users, with police investigations closed without a suspect). Both women spoke on the record to TBIJ and The Observer; the presenter also to BBC Wales in January 2026. The images are not reproduced or described beyond the sources' wording.

People described

A Welsh presenter and campaigner against deepfake abuse, and a commentator and broadcaster; both adults and public figures who spoke on the record to TBIJ and The Observer.

People reported harmed in this case

2 people

0 AI participants · 2 other people harmed

Two depicted people, a presenter and campaigner and a commentator and broadcaster (TBIJ; The Observer). The MP also interviewed by TBIJ is counted in her own case (2026-asato-v-xai-grok). Exact 2.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#grok#xai#x-twitter#deepfakes#non-consensual-intimate-images#ai-generated-images#police#south-wales-police#metropolitan-police#ofcom#uk

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). UK: Grok-made sexualised images of a Welsh presenter and campaigner against deepfake abuse and of a commentator and broadcaster, requested by anonymous X accounts around New Year 2026; South Wales Police and the Metropolitan Police closed their investigations without identifying a suspect after X did not answer information requests; the presenter is in pre-action correspondence with xAI. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-uk-grok-sexualised-images-two-women-police-cases-closed-no-suspect-identified

BibTeX

@misc{2026_uk_grok_sexualised_images_two_women_police_cases_closed_no_suspect_identified,
  title = {UK: Grok-made sexualised images of a Welsh presenter and campaigner against deepfake abuse and of a commentator and broadcaster, requested by anonymous X accounts around New Year 2026; South Wales Police and the Metropolitan Police closed their investigations without identifying a suspect after X did not answer information requests; the presenter is in pre-action correspondence with xAI},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-uk-grok-sexualised-images-two-women-police-cases-closed-no-suspect-identified}
}

Related cases

High Grok

Bentonville, Arkansas: a children's photographer was charged with 200 counts after police found more than 1,700 sexual images and videos of children on his phone, much of the material allegedly made with Grok from his portrait photographs of juvenile clients; two families sued xAI in federal court and later voluntarily dismissed their suits

On 8 June 2026 Bentonville police received a tip about child sexual abuse material being generated online through Grok; the account was registered to a well-known local photographer, and a detective found images of a girl from his summer-camp photography classes that appeared to be AI prompts posing children and removing clothing. He was arrested on 10 June and charged with 100 counts of possessing sexually explicit material involving a child and 100 counts under Arkansas' deepfake and child-exploitation provisions; a hidden folder on his phone held more than 1,700 images and videos, most of prepubescent and pubescent girls, most so realistic the detective could not tell their origin, and more than 60 devices were seized. He pleaded not guilty on 20 July 2026 and is free on a $350,000 bond with home monitoring. Two federal lawsuits against xAI followed in the Eastern District of Arkansas on behalf of a ten-year-old former client (filed 23 July) and a nine-year-old girl (filed 29 July): the first complaint says her parents hired the photographer in spring 2026 for family portraits and were told by police on 10 June that from about 22 April her photographs had been fed into Grok to generate hundreds if not thousands of sexual images and videos, and that thousands more depicted other children; it faults Grok's marketed 'Spicy Mode'. Both plaintiffs filed notices of voluntary dismissal on 15 September 2026; the second notice, the only one read, is without prejudice and says the defendants had not been served, and neither docket shows a return of service. Local reporting says a Benton County state-court suit and a further federal suit were filed in August and that xAI, which says it made the cyber tip, sued the photographer, but those reports could not be read in full. The criminal case continues.

High Grok

St. Clair v. xAI: a writer says Grok made and published sexualized images of her on X, including from a photo of her at 14, after it told her it would not; xAI sued her in Texas and her New York case was ordered transferred there, an order the Second Circuit has stayed pending her mandamus petition

Ashley St. Clair, a writer and political commentator with about 1 million followers on X, sued xAI in New York on 15 January 2026. She alleges that from on or about 4 January 2026 Grok, prompted by other X users, altered photos of her into sexualized images and published them on X, including one made from a photo of her at 14. She says @Grok told her that her images would not be used or altered without explicit consent, but many more images followed. She also says X's reporting channel found no violation and that X removed her Premium subscription, verification checkmark and monetization. She says she has suffered serious pain, mental distress and humiliation. The same day, xAI sued her in federal court in Texas, arguing that its terms of service required her to sue there. On 23 June 2026 the New York federal court ordered her case transferred to Texas. On 8 July the Second Circuit stayed that order administratively while it considers her mandamus petition, which was still pending on 24 August. The Texas case is set for trial on 1 March 2027.

High Grok

Wyoming plaintiff alleges Grok was used to make about 7,000 AI-generated sexual images and videos from a photograph of the plaintiff as a child

A Wyoming woman who is now an adult and is identified in court filings as Jane Doe 4 alleges that the plaintiff’s stepfather uploaded a photograph of the plaintiff taken in childhood to xAI’s Grok on or before 12 February 2026 and prompted Grok to generate about 7,000 AI-generated sexual images and videos of the plaintiff, and that the stepfather traded them online. The plaintiff joined a proposed class action against xAI in the Northern District of California through an amended complaint filed on 7 July 2026. The complaint alleges that xAI’s report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children around 12 February 2026 did not include the generated images or the IP address of the upload, that investigators obtained a search warrant on or about 27 February 2026 and found the material, and that the accused died two days later, after release on bail. The plaintiff reports severe distress including depression and suicidal thoughts and told the Washington Post about starting therapy. The complaint says the accused was charged with child exploitation offenses while the plaintiff told the Post that the accused was not charged with child pornography offenses. xAI did not respond to the Post and had not answered the complaint in court. The allegations have not been tested in court. The plaintiff and the accused are not named here, and the images are described only by kind.

Medium Grok (reported)

Australian campaigner Caitlin Roper targeted with AI-generated violent and altered images

Caitlin Roper, campaigns manager at the Australian group Collective Shout, reports that during 2025 people sent and posted AI-generated images of her, including violent images and images altered with X's Grok feature, together with threats. The New York Times (as excerpted on a UC Berkeley page dated 31 October 2025) described her as traumatized by the threats she received that year. Roper says she spent at least an hour each morning reporting, blocking and documenting the abuse for months, and that police and the eSafety Commission gave little help. The senders are not identified in the inspected sources, and the exact dates of the images are not stated.

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