UK: Grok made sexualised images of a Welsh presenter and a broadcaster at users' requests; police closed both cases, then reopened the presenter's, TBIJ reports

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.

Reopening (reported 22 October 2026). TBIJ reported on 22 October 2026 that South Wales Police had reopened the presenter's case. She had filed a formal complaint in September, the week TBIJ published its investigation, and TBIJ gave the force new information about the user who targeted her, including a crypto wallet and dozens of deleted posts. The force had treated the image under malicious-communications law; it now says it is investigating the offence under the sexual-offences legislation designed to tackle deepfakes, including follow-up enquiries with X. The presenter said she was pleased and that it was frustrating that victims have to fight so hard to be taken seriously. TBIJ also found that, despite limits X later imposed, users could still request bikini images and other sexualised deepfakes of women without their consent, and that other users had edited images of her with the standalone Grok app; one such image was removed from X after TBIJ flagged it to her. TBIJ says she is starting civil legal action against the company. SpaceXAI did not respond to TBIJ. TBIJ is a participant in this development, since it supplied the information to the police.

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 were closed without a suspect after X did not answer requests, and TBIJ reported on 22 October 2026 that South Wales Police had reopened the presenter's case (TBIJ; The Observer; BBC Wales).

South Wales Police investigated the presenter's 2 January 2026 report and closed the case in May after its requests to X went unanswered; the force said the victim was kept informed and offered support and that no suspect could be identified (TBIJ; The Observer). Reopened: TBIJ reported on 22 October 2026 that the force reopened the case after her September formal complaint and new information from TBIJ (a crypto wallet and dozens of deleted posts), and said it is investigating under sexual-offences legislation, including enquiries with X; no arrest or charge is reported. The Metropolitan Police says that despite exploring all viable lines of enquiry no suspect could be identified in the broadcaster's complaint; no reopening of that case is reported. The presenter was in pre-action correspondence with xAI/SpaceXAI (letter sent in September 2026; company response a fortnight later) and, per TBIJ on 22 October, is starting civil legal action; no filed claim is reported. 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).