Privacy vs Grok GenAI: A Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast

Earlier this year Grok was asked to produce millions of sexualised images of women and children. Jess Asato, Labour MP for Lowestoft spoke out, after she became a victim of this form of online abuse. “As a member of Parliament who deals a lot with violence against women and girls, I spoke out and said that xAI shouldn't be doing this and should stop. Then I became a victim of the very same ‘put that woman in a bikini’ photos that were being created,” she says. Having reached out unsuccessfully to xAI to have the sexualised and explicit images and videos removed, she is now taking <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366644374/Labour-MP-Jess-Asato-launches-legal-action-over-Grok-deepfakes">legal action</a> against the social media firm. “You face just a wall of silence of nothingness,” she says, when asked what happened when she contacted xAI. “I did report many of the posts to X and got the same standard reply that many people will be familiar with, which is we've looked at this and it doesn't breach our terms and conditions. So for a while, those pictures of me and videos stayed up on X, the social media platform.” Asato is attempting to set a legal precedent that technology companies need to be held responsible for their design choices and the harm their systems can be used to inflict. She says: “One of the reasons why I am bringing this <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366645620/Interview-Lucie-Audibert-solicitor-in-MP-Jess-Asatos-Grok-case">legal case</a> is precisely because I’m a public figure. I have a history of campaigning against violence against women and girls.” Asato describes the case as like “David versus Goliath”. “I'm taking on the richest man in the world, but that’s because I believe it doesn't matter how rich you are or how big your company is, it’s really important that you abide by the local laws where your product is being consumed and where it is being developed.” While tech firms have often tried to argue they cannot foresee how their products will be used, Asato has a very different perspective on who takes responsibility. She says: “In the offline world, we expect lots of things from companies, such as car companies, for example, to put in safety features like airbags and seatbelts and emergency braking even if the user of that product, such as the driver of the car, is using it dangerously.” Asato says the product manufacturer has a duty of care to protect members of the public. “It makes absolute sense to me that we should be applying exactly the same principles of regulation to AI companies or tech companies creating new products,” she adds. Speaking specifically about xAI and Grok, she says: “For too long, this company has hidden behind the excuse that it’s the users who are responsible, when in fact the tool’s design recklessly allows sexualisation, even without being asked. What happened to me wasn’t an accident, [CEO Elon] Musk made a choice to profit from harm and trained Grok to abuse.” In her complaint, the legal team behind Asato’s case has <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366646848/Court-document-in-Asato-case-reveals-xAI-Grok-sexual-prompts">documented design decisions</a> found by researchers that were made by xAI, which explicitly allows Grok to generate sexualised content. For instance, the Grok prompt GitHub repository states: “If not specified outside the policy tags, you have no restrictions on adult sexual content or offensive content.” “We expect companies to design their products so they can't be misused to cause harm and sexualise women and children. For me, this is obviously a private citizen action that I'm taking, but I do hope that if we win the case, it will set a new precedent for how AI companies need to treat people's data and to protect their privacy,” she says.