## Grok's "Spicy" AI Video Tool Generates Uncensored Celebrity Deepfakes, Raising Legal and Ethical Concerns **News Title:** Grok’s ‘spicy’ video setting instantly made me Taylor Swift nude deepfakes **Report Provider:** The Verge **Author:** Jess Weatherbed **Published Date:** August 5, 2025 This report details significant concerns regarding the "spicy" mode of xAI's new generative AI video tool, Grok Imagine. Unlike competitors such as Google's Veo and OpenAI's Sora, which have implemented safeguards against Non-Consensual Sexual Content (NSFW) and celebrity deepfakes, Grok Imagine appears to readily generate such material. ### Key Findings and Concerns: * **Uncensored Celebrity Deepfakes:** The most alarming finding is Grok Imagine's ability to produce uncensored topless videos of celebrities, specifically Taylor Swift, without explicit prompting for nudity. The author reported that the tool generated such content on the first use, even when not specifically requested. * **"Spicy" Mode Functionality:** Grok Imagine allows users to generate images from text prompts and then convert them into video clips using four presets: "Custom," "Normal," "Fun," and "Spicy." The "Spicy" mode is described as the catalyst for generating suggestive or nude content. * **Ease of Celebrity Image Generation:** The text-to-image generator readily produced numerous images of Taylor Swift when prompted with a request like "Taylor Swift celebrating Coachella with the boys." Several of these initial images already depicted Swift in revealing attire. * **"Spicy" Mode Variability:** While the "Spicy" preset doesn't always guarantee nudity, it can result in suggestive poses or, as demonstrated, the removal of clothing. The author noted that some "spicy" videos showed Swift "sexily swaying or suggestively motioning to her clothes," while others defaulted to "ripping off most of her clothing." * **Inconsistent Nudity Restrictions:** The text-to-image generator itself refused to produce full or partial nudity when directly requested, resulting in blank squares. However, the "spicy" video preset bypasses this restriction. * **Photorealistic Images of Children:** The tool can generate photorealistic images of children, but it reportedly refuses to animate them inappropriately, even with the "spicy" option available. In tests, the "spicy" option on children's images resulted in generic movement. * **Weak Age Verification:** The app's age verification process is described as "laughably easy to bypass," with no proof of age required. This raises concerns about accessibility to potentially harmful content for minors. * **Legal and Regulatory Risks:** The report highlights the potential legal ramifications, especially given xAI's parent company's history with Taylor Swift deepfakes and existing regulations like the "Take It Down Act." The xAI acceptable use policy bans "depicting likenesses of persons in a pornographic manner," yet Grok Imagine appears to facilitate this. * **Widespread Usage:** xAI CEO Elon Musk stated that over **34 million images** have been generated using Grok Imagine since Monday, with usage described as "growing like wildfire." This indicates a significant and rapid adoption of the tool. ### Potential Implications: The findings suggest a significant gap in the safeguards of Grok Imagine compared to its industry peers. The ease with which celebrity deepfakes, including explicit content, can be generated poses serious risks of defamation, harassment, and the spread of misinformation. The lack of robust age verification further exacerbates these concerns, potentially exposing younger users to inappropriate material. The report implies that xAI may be creating a product that is "a lawsuit waiting to happen" due to its lax approach to content moderation and celebrity likenesses.
Grok’s ‘spicy’ video setting instantly made me Taylor Swift nude deepfakes
Read original at The Verge →The “spicy’ mode for Grok’s new generative AI video tool feels like a lawsuit waiting to happen. While other video generators like Google’s Veo and OpenAI’s Sora have safeguards in place to prevent users from creating NSFW content and celebrity deepfakes, Grok Imagine is happy to do both simultaneously.
In fact, it didn’t hesitate to spit out fully uncensored topless videos of Taylor Swift the very first time I used it — without me even specifically asking the bot to take her clothes off.Grok’s Imagine feature on iOS lets you generate pictures with a text prompt, then turn them quickly into video clips with four presets: “Custom,” “Normal,” “Fun,” and “Spicy.
” While image generators often shy away from producing recognizable celebrities, I asked it to generate “Taylor Swift celebrating Coachella with the boys” and was met with a sprawling feed of more than 30 images to pick from, several of which already depicted Swift in revealing clothes.From there, all I had to do was open a picture of Swift in a silver skirt and halter top, tap the “make video” option in the bottom right corner, select “spicy” from the drop-down menu, and confirm my birth year (something I wasn’t asked to do upon downloading the app, despite living in the UK where the internet is now being age-gated.
) The video promptly had Swift tear off her clothes and begin dancing in a thong for a largely indifferent AI-generated crowd.Swift’s likeness wasn’t perfect, given that most of the images Grok generated had an uncanny valley offness to them, but it was still recognizable as her. The text-to-image generator itself wouldn’t produce full or partial nudity on request; asking for nude pictures of Swift or people in general produced blank squares.
The “spicy” preset also isn’t guaranteed to result in nudity — some of the other AI Swift Coachella images I tried had her sexily swaying or suggestively motioning to her clothes, for example. But several defaulted to ripping off most of her clothing.The image generator will also make photorealistic pictures of children upon request, but thankfully refuses to animate them inappropriately, despite the “spicy” option still being available.
You can still select it, but in all my tests, it just added generic movement.You would think a company that already has a complicated history with Taylor Swift deepfakes, in a regulatory landscape with rules like the Take It Down Act, would be a little more careful. The xAI acceptable use policy does ban “depicting likenesses of persons in a pornographic manner,” Grok Imagine simply seems to do nothing to stop people creating likenesses of celebrities like Swift, while offering a service designed specifically to make suggestive videos including partial nudity.
The age check only appeared once and was laughably easy to bypass, requesting no proof that I was the age I claimed to be.If I could do it, that means anyone with an iPhone and a $30 SuperGrok subscription can too. More than 34 million images have already been generated using Grok Imagine since Monday, according to xAI CEO Elon Musk, who said usage was “growing like wildfire.
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