Viral Grok lewding trend causes outrage in Japan
For the past week, X users have been asking the AI assistant Grok to put women into a swimsuit on the photos they uploaded to social media.
The viral lewding trend has taken the internet by storm, generating a fair amount of outrage on the way — including in Japan where one user even asked it to edit a photo of a princess and put her in a “tiny bikini”.
The photo of her that was shared on X was taken at a New Year’s gathering hosted by the Imperial Family of Japan on 2 Jan.
User asks Grok to put princess in a bikini
In the image, Princess Kako of Akishino can be seen dressed in a light blue robe while smiling and waving to the crowd below.
Soon after the image began circulating on X, however, one user decided to hop on the lewding trend and ask xAI’s Grok to put the princess in a bikini.
Screenshots of the now-deleted post show the user asking Grok to “put she in a tiny bikini [sic]“.
Source: @tkzwgrs on X
The post generated outrage online, but also sparked interest internationally — with some users even asking Grok to process their similar requests.
The two viral X posts garnered more than 15 million views each.
Grok gets asked to put bikini on idol a few days later
Subsequently, only a few days later, another Grok-related post went viral on X. This time, manga artist Yoichiro Tanabe asked the AI to undress an idol.
The photo was originally posted on 31 Dec by 23-year-old STU48 idol Riko Kudo.
Source: @Lets_chikochiko on X
According to Josei Jishin, Mr Tanabe posted the Grok-edited image on 3 Jan.
While Ms Kudo’s original photo showed her in a white dress, Mr Tanabe had edited the photo with the help of Grok and put her in a bikini and a muffler. He called it “drawing material”.
Source: @tkzwgrs on X
Soon after, Ms Kudo quoted his post and captioned it with multiple nauseating emojis to express her discontent.
The post remained visible on X until a day later when another member of the idol group replied to the message asking Mr Tanabe to delete it.
On 5 Jan, the manga artist posted an apology on X.
He acknowledged the discomfort he caused the girls and also said he would reflect on maintaining an appropriate distance between himself and the idols he works with.
Collaborations between the artist and the idol group have ceased since the incident.
Grok criticised worldwide
Japan is far from the only place where Grok-edited photos of women are drawing criticism.
On 5 Jan, UK independent media regulator Ofcom said they have made “urgent contact” with X and xAI to understand the measures they are taking to protect users in the UK.
The statement addressed “a feature on Grok on X that produces undressed images of people and sexualised images of children”.
Our statement on Grok ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/UsXh96zjQY
— Ofcom (@Ofcom) January 5, 2026
According to The Guardian, users on X have continued to use the AI to produce sexualised images of underage children, including of 14-year-old Nell Fisher who stars in the Netflix series Stranger Things.
In response to widespread concern, Elon Musk and X have issued statements saying they will pursue legal action against users who misuse Grok.
“Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content,” they wrote.
We take action against illegal content on X, including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary.
Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the… https://t.co/93kiIBTCYO
— Safety (@Safety) January 4, 2026
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MINDEF releases AI content for Christmas, draws mixed reactions with some calling it ‘slop’
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Featured image adapted from @tkzwgrs on X and X.
