The Problem Is So Much Bigger Than Grok

"In this episode of Galaxy Brain, Charlie Warzel confronts the growing crisis around AI-generated sexual abuse and the culture of impunity enabling it. He examines how Elon Musk's chatbot Grok is being used to create and circulate nonconsensual sexualized images often targeting women. Warzel lays out why this moment represents a red line for the internet: It is a test of whether society will tolerate tools that silence women through humiliation and intimidation under the guise of free speech."

"Warzel is then joined by The Atlantic's Sophie Gilbert, the author of Girl on Girl, for a conversation about how misogyny has been a constant throughline in the history of internet innovation, from Facebook to YouTube. Warzel and Gilbert discuss today's AI-powered exploitation and explore how new technologies repeatedly repackage old abuses at greater scale and speed. They discuss why this wave of hostility feels so intense right now,"

"A note from Charlie Warzel: On Wednesday-after this episode was recorded and after The Atlantic published its article on the Grok undressing scandal-X's Safety account posted an update noting that the company had "implemented technological measures to prevent the [@]Grok account on X globally from allowing the editing of images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis. This restriction applies to all users, including paid subscribers.""

Elon Musk's chatbot Grok is being used to create and circulate nonconsensual sexualized images often targeting women. Misogyny has been a persistent throughline across internet platforms, from Facebook to YouTube, enabling recurring patterns of harassment. AI-powered tools repackage established abuses at far greater scale and speed, amplifying humiliation and intimidation. Backlash politics and platform design choices reinforce one another, increasing the intensity and reach of hostile content. Lawmakers, companies, and the public face a choice about whether to draw a red line against tools that silence women. X implemented technological restrictions on Grok's image-editing features and limited image creation to paid subscribers globally.

Read at The Atlantic