Global response to nudification apps following Grok scandal

Elon Musk’s free and accessible AI system, Grok, has generated an estimated three million non-consensual nude images, triggering an urgent global response. A coalition of 107 leading child-protection and humanitarian organisations has united to confront what they describe as an unacceptable threat to human dignity and child safety.

The global coalition, which  includes  Safe Online, Child Helpline International, Offlimits, the National Centre for Missing & Exploited, We Protect, Internet Watch Foundation, In Hope, the European Commission, NSPCC, Amnesty International, INTERPOL and 96 others, brings together regulators, child-protection experts, human rights advocates, and international law enforcement.

Nudifying tools allow users to digitally undress individuals using ordinary photographs. While often marketed as “adult” applications, they are increasingly used to target women and girls in particular and to generate illegal sexual imagery of children without consent, accountability, or effective barriers.

“Between 2023 and 2024 there was  a 1,325% increase in AI-generated child sexual abuse imagery.” Marija Manojlovic, Head of Safe Online, a US$100 million global fund dedicated to protecting children online. “The same technology that should expand human potential is being weaponized against children.”

She added that the framing of these harms obscures their severity. “We minimise harm by calling it ‘online,’ as if it is somehow less serious than what happens in the physical world, but the trauma is real,” Manojlovic said.

“Nudifying tools have created an unprecedented threat to our children. AI – the technology that should expand human potential, is being weaponised against children.

“Tech companies have the ability to detect and block nudified content of children. The distribution of child sexual abuse material is illegal in every jurisdiction and tech platforms should be brought in line with other creation and distribution channels.

“It’s frankly shocking that these platforms are monetised and aren’t required to report offenders, or work with industry partners to cut off payment flows – these are safeguarding tools that are used in the real world and need to be applied to online platforms.”

Calls have been growing to outlaw AI nudifying technologies with advocates arguing that they have no good purpose, and Pope Leo XIV recently saying artificial intelligence must be an ally to children, not a threat.

The coalition is mobilising immediate tools and coordinated action to block access to nudification technologies, hold developers and platforms accountable, and accelerate protections to prevent further harm.

With AI abuse accelerating, the coalition is seeking broader global support and is opening membership to new organisations via https://forms.gle/uvYwAyDVQFCnAN3v7

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