Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok has come under intense scrutiny in Ireland and internationally because it has been widely used to generate and share sexually explicit images of women and children.

However, Tanya Ward, chief executive of the Children’s Rights Alliance, said the scandal around Grok is “only one example of where the lack of regulation leaves children and vulnerable people online”.

She added: “What is considered as the darkest and most disturbing of online harms is now happening in plain sight, and it is utterly immoral. It is more proof that big tech cannot be trusted to keep children safe online.”

Rape Crisis Ireland (RCI) has also called on the government to make it illegal to possess, create or distribute AI tools that can generate such images. 

“These ‘nudification’ functions of AI, together with other ‘nudify’ apps, seem to serve little rational purpose other than to allow predators to abuse women and children online,” RCI’s executive director, Dr Clíona Saidléar, said.

A private member’s bill introduced to the Dáil by Fianna Fáil TD Malcolm Byrne last year proposes to create specific offences for the misuse of an individual’s name, photograph, voice or likeness.

The Protection of Voice and Image Bill 2025 provides a “practical starting point for urgently needed legislation”, Mr Byrne told RTÉ News.

He said the bill “anticipated the problems around the weaponisation for AI for sexual purposes that have become apparent this week”.