Kylie Brewer says she has dealt with harassment before. But what happened in early January felt different.
The feminist history content creator began receiving messages from strangers asking whether she had launched an OnlyFans account. Others sent her screenshots of explicit images that appeared to feature her likeness.
According to Brewer, the images were generated using Grok, the AI chatbot created by Elon Musk’s company xAI and integrated into X.
Someone had allegedly used Grok’s image tools to create sexualized deepfakes of Brewer and upload them to an OnlyFans page using her name. The account was charging subscribers for access.
“It was the most dejected that I've ever felt,” Brewer said during a phone call with 404 Media. “I was like, let's say I tracked this person down. Someone else could just go into X and use Grok and do the exact same thing with different pictures, right?”
One manipulated image appeared to be based on a swimsuit photo she had previously posted to Instagram. “My eyes look weird, and my hands are covering my face so it kind of looks like my face got distorted, and they very clearly tried to give me larger breasts, where it does not look like anything realistic at all,” Brewer said.
Another image showed her “in a seductive pose, kneeling or crawling,” even though it was not based on any real photo she had shared online.
Brewer pushed back against the idea that AI-generated content is less harmful simply because it is fabricated.
“I think that people assume, because the pictures aren't real, that it's not as damaging,” she said. “But if anything, this was worse because it just fills you with such a sense of lack of control and fear that they could do this to anyone.”
The controversy surrounding Grok’s image-generation features has expanded far beyond Brewer’s experience. Researchers at the Center for Countering Digital Hate reported that between late December 2025 and early January 2026, Grok generated roughly three million sexualized images, including about 23,000 that appeared to depict minors.
Regulators have taken notice. The European Commission opened an investigation into X under the Digital Services Act. In the U.K., Ofcom began examining whether the platform complied with the Online Safety Act. Indonesia and Malaysia temporarily restricted access to Grok.
In the United States, New York Attorney General Letitia James joined a bipartisan coalition of 35 attorneys general demanding further action from xAI.
“I am deeply disturbed by reports that Grok created and shared inappropriate images of women and children,” James said in a statement, calling on the company to prevent the creation of non-consensual images and eliminate harmful content already produced.
xAI has since implemented some restrictions, including limiting certain image-generation features to paying subscribers and blocking “undressing” prompts in certain jurisdictions. Elon Musk has publicly stated that users are responsible for illegal content generated through the tool.
OnlyFans prohibits impersonation and deepfake content. By the time Brewer accessed one of the links sent to her, the account had already been removed.
Still, Brewer says the broader impact lingers.
“It feels like any remote sense of privacy and protection that you could have as a woman is completely gone, and that no one cares,” she said. “It’s genuinely such a dehumanizing and horrible experience that I wouldn't wish on anyone.”