TD tells AI minister X has 'lied' to her about disabling Grok's nudification function

TD Paul Murphy told Niamh Smyth today: 'I just got someone in my office, with my consent, to undress me (using Grok).'

After saying X 'misled' the minister, Paul Murphy asked her what she will now do after learning she had been misinformed. File photo: Damien Eagers/PA

Social media platform X has been accused of misleading the AI minister about disabling its AI chatbot’s ‘nudification’ function worldwide after a TD’s office used the tool to generate undressed photos of himself.

Niamh Smyth was at the Oireachtas committee on AI in the wake of continued international outcry about the platform’s AI chatbot Grok and the creation of sexually manipulated images, including those of children.

The European Commission has now launched a formal investigation under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) into Elon Musk’s X over the production of sexually explicit images and the spreading of possible child sexual abuse material generated with the platform’s AI chatbot feature.

Minister of state Niamh Smyth met online with executives from the social media firm X last Friday, where the executives informed her that the functionality allowing Grok to remove clothing from images of people had been disabled.

Addressing the committee on Tuesday, Ms Smyth said the group from X had “conceded” to the fact that the technology was not intended to be used this way. However, she told the committee she believed the perspective was “skewed”.

Niamh Smyth said: 'The language even that they were using about ‘user manipulation’ doesn't sit well with me, and ‘bad actors’ doesn't sit well with me.' File photo

“The language even that they were using about ‘user manipulation’ doesn't sit well with me, and ‘bad actors’ doesn't sit well with me,” she said. “I understand what that means. However, this is a huge company with huge financial resources behind it.” 

Earlier this month, the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau confirmed there is an ongoing investigation in relation to Grok. An Garda Síochána is currently investigating 200 child sexual abuse images generated by the AI feature.

People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy asked Ms Smyth if it was accurate that X told her Grok, as integrated on the X platform, had been disabled from removing or reducing clothing on individuals "worldwide".

Ms Smyth said: “Yes, on their platform of X”, adding that she was certain that is what she was told. When asked if she had checked, she said she had not as she had disabled her own X account.

“It's not true,” Mr Murphy said. “I just got someone in my office, with my consent, to undress me. I will spare you the images,” he told the committee. 

But it's not true, they lied to you. 

In response, Ms Smyth said the “most dissatisfying” part of her meeting with X was the attempt to separate Grok from the platform of X.

“Grok is a creation of X as an AI X-tool, so I made it very clear to X that I don’t accept that.” 

In a statement, X had announced it now ‘geoblocks’ the ability of all users to generate images of ‘real people' in bikinis, underwear or similar attire via the Grok account and in Grok in X in jurisdictions where it is illegal, Mr Murphy said.

“However, they told you that they were doing it worldwide,” he said to the minister.

“They haven’t done it worldwide. If you try and access it now, in Ireland using a VPN, you can't do it through X but if you put a VPN to Paris, for example, you can still create these images.” 

Ms Smyth said it was her understanding from the meeting that the capability had been disabled within jurisdictions where it is illegal.

“The purpose of the meeting was to see that they would disable that, that that capability wouldn't be there.” X “misled” the minister, Mr Murphy said, asking her what she will now do after learning she had been misinformed.

She said:

I will take action Deputy Murphy. Believe you me, I will take action.

Fine Gael TD James Geoghegan said it “beggars belief” that “even for a couple of days, child sex abuse material that was being put on a platform somehow got juxtaposed into a debate about free speech.” 

“How has the pendulum swung so far that there's even a discussion [or] a debate?”

Social Democrats TD Sinéad Gibney said that three weeks on, image-based sexual abuse is continuing on the platform.

“This is an online safety issue. It is a child protection issue. Its a data privacy issue, a consumer protection issue, a fundamental rights issue and a criminal issue. We need to see prosecutions, we need to see injunctions. This tool should simply not be available.”