Grok’s "Digital Undressing" Crisis and a Manifesto to Build a Better Internet

Galaxy Brain

The Atlantic

Technology

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 9 January 2026

⏱️ 74 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode of “Galaxy Brain,” Charlie Warzel discusses the nightmare playing out on Elon Musk’s X: Grok, the platform’s embedded AI chatbot, is being used to generate and spread nonconsensual sexualized images—often through “undressing” prompts that turn harassment into a viral game. Warzel describes how what once lived on the internet’s fringes has been supercharged by X’s distribution machine. He explains how the silence and lack of urgency isn’t just another content-moderation failure; it’s a breakdown of basic human decency, a moment that signals what happens when platforms choose chaos over stewardship. Then Charlie is joined by Mike Masnick, Alex Komoroske, and Zoe Weinberg to discuss a vision for a positive future of the internet. The trio helped write the “Resonant Computing Manifesto,” a framework for building technology that leaves people feeling nourished rather than hollow. They discuss how to combat engagement-maximizing products that hijack attention, erode agency, and creep people out through surveillance and manipulation. The conversation is both a diagnosis and a call to action: Stop only defending against the worst futures, and start articulating, designing, and demanding the kinds of digital spaces that make us more human. Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/Listener. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hi, just leave on work now. Sorry, it's a bit loud.
0:03.3	Um, basically, so I was thinking we could get Macies tonight. Had a big Mac on my mind all day, and delivery fee on the app is now from 99P. So you win? Of course you are. Love you. Bye! Exclusively on the McDonald's app. 18 plus, service fee and small order fee may apply. Participating restaurants. Serving times and teas and seas apply. Right, that's it. Come on.
0:21.2	Lights out. You've got a test tomorrow.
0:22.8	Just two minutes. I'm about to reach the next level. It's going off now. Yeah, whatever. Let's see. Where's the app? Oh, here it is. What? How? Oh, no. You're out. Better look next time. Mom!
0:36.2	It's game over for late nights on school nights.
0:39.0	E.E. Wi-Fi controls help you get them off the Wi-Fi and into bed. More parents are choosing EE broadband, the UK's fastest growing broadband provider. To verify I see E.e.com. U.K. slash claims. AI should not be your friend. If you think that AI is your friend, you were on the wrong track. AI should be a tool. It should be an extension of your agency. The fact that the first manifestation of large language models in a product happens to be a chatbot that pretends to be a human just like, it's like the aliens in contact who say, you know, present themselves as her, you know, grandparents or whatever so she could make sense of it. It's like, it's just a perfect crime.
1:12.6	I think we're going to look back on it and think of chatbots as an embarrassing party trick.
1:20.6	Welcome to Galaxy Brain. I'm Charlie Worsell.
1:25.6	Initially, I wanted to start something out for the new year where I wanted to just talk about some things that I've been paying attention to every week and give, you know, a bullet pointed list of stuff that I think you should pay attention to, stuff I'm covering, reporting on before we get into our conversation
1:45.6	today. But today, I really only have one thing. And it has been top of mind for a little
1:54.0	less than a week. And it is something that I can't stop thinking about. And frankly I find extremely disturbing and I'm mad about it,
2:06.3	honestly, to ditch the sober journalist part. I'm just, it's infuriating. And this is what's
2:16.1	going on on Elon Musk's X app.
2:18.8	I don't know if you've heard about this, but Elon Musk's AI chatbot GROC has been used to create
2:24.5	just a slew of non-consensual sexualized images of people, including people who look to be
2:31.4	minors.
2:32.4	This has been called a, quote, mass undressing spree.
2:37.7	And essentially, what has happened is a couple of weeks ago,
2:42.2	some content creators who create adult content on places like OnlyFan,
2:48.4	used Grok's app, which is infused inside of the X platform, right?
2:53.7	You can just at GROC and ask it to prompt it to do something.
2:57.2	And the chatbot will, you know, generate whatever.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 21 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Atlantic, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Atlantic and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.