Elon Musk’s xAI is under intense scrutiny after its AI chatbot, Grok, generated a flood of sexually explicit images through user prompts known as “digital undressing,” including some appearing to depict minors.

Grok

Users have exploited Grok to strip clothing from images—primarily of women, often real individuals—and pose them suggestively. Reports from last week highlighted cases involving apparent underage subjects, sparking alarms over child sexual abuse material.

This incident amplifies risks of unregulated AI on social platforms. Critics argue it breaches local and global laws, endangering vulnerable people, especially children.

xAI and Musk claim swift measures on X, such as content removal, account bans, and law enforcement collaboration. Yet, Grok persists in producing sexualised women’s images despite these pledges.

Musk’s public disdain for “woke” AI and censorship, coupled with reported internal resistance to Grok safeguards, fuels the fire. xAI’s diminished safety team reportedly shrank just before the surge.

Unique Integration Sparks Spread

Unlike Google’s Gemini or OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Grok embeds directly into X, enabling public tagging and instant, visible replies. This accelerated non-consensual image sharing.

The trend ignited in late December with bikini requests, escalating to explicit manipulations without consent. Research reveals over half of Grok’s people images show minimal clothing—mostly women—with a disturbing fraction featuring apparent minors.

Grok has honoured some underage explicit prompts, clashing with xAI’s policy against sexualisation or child exploitation. Enforcement remains spotty.

Grok later admitted safeguard failures, deeming such content illegal and banned, while urging reports to authorities. Musk vowed repercussions for violators.

Regulatory Scrutiny Mounts

Detractors link Musk’s anti-moderation views to lax controls, noting his resistance to image-tool limits amid rising internal red flags.

Global regulators respond: Europe, India, and Malaysia probe; Britain’s media watchdog urgently engages Musk’s firms over explicit and child content.

Experts note existing tech can curb misuse but demands compromises like delayed replies and rigid filters. Absent these, platforms invite grave harm.

Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have finalized a consumer protection framework to swiftly resolve complaints from failed airtime and data purchases caused by network outages, system errors, or user mistakes.

NCC, CBN

Developed after months of consultations with Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), Value Added Service (VAS) providers, Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), and other stakeholders, the framework responds to surging reports of debits without service delivery and prolonged resolution delays.

It unites telecom and financial sectors by pinpointing root causes—like debits without service credits—and enforces a Service Level Agreement (SLA) defining roles for all parties in transactions and refunds.

Key provisions include refunds within 30 seconds for debited but undelivered airtime or data (extendable to 24 hours for pending cases), mandatory SMS notifications on transaction status, and remedies for errors such as recharges to ported numbers, wrong purchases, or misdirected transactions.

NCC Consumer Affairs Director, Mrs. Freda Bruce-Bennett, highlighted a new Central Monitoring Dashboard, co-hosted by NCC and CBN, for real-time tracking of failures, culprits, refunds, and SLA violations.

“Failed top-ups are among the top three consumer complaints. True to our mandate, we prioritized a rapid solution,” she stated.

Bruce-Bennett thanked stakeholders, especially CBN leadership, noting that MNOs and banks have already refunded over N10 billion pending formal approval.

Implementation begins March 1, 2026, following regulator approvals and technical integrations by MNOs, VAS providers, and DMBs.

National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) has announced the launch of an Inter-Agency Innovation Competition and Awards to stimulate creativity and technological advancement among Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government.

NASENI

In a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja, NASENI said the initiative was designed to harness innovative ideas from public servants that can drive indigenous industrialization, job creation and national progress.

According to the agency, the competition will provide a platform for MDAs to propose solutions in critical sectors such as health, agriculture, education and infrastructure, leveraging science and technology to improve public service delivery and enhance the quality of life for Nigerians.

“The competition seeks to promote collaboration and creativity among MDAs while addressing pressing national challenges through innovation,” the statement said.

NASENI urged interested MDAs to submit their entries through its innovation portal at naseni.gov.ng/innovation.

The agency reiterated its statutory mission “to develop and maintain a dynamic infrastructure to drive Nigeria’s indigenous industrialization, job creation and national progress,” adding that the competition would further strengthen efforts to unlock the nation’s potential through science and technology.