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Japan’s Princess Kako falls victim to Grok AI’s ‘put her in a bikini’ deepfakes craze

Images of the princess in a blue dress during a recent event were used to generate deepfakes, including of her naked and covered in tattoos

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Princess Kako (left) and her brother Prince Hisahito attend the traditional New Year’s greeting ceremony by Japan’s royal family at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on January 2. Photo: AFP
SCMP’s Asia desk
Grok-generated deepfake images of Japan’s Princess Kako, the niece of Emperor Naruhito, in a bikini circulating online have renewed scrutiny on Elon Musk’s X chatbot.

Since the AI assistant started allowing users to manipulate any posted image, a nudification trend has gained traction online, with people asking Grok to generate sexualised deepfakes using prompts such as “put her in a tiny bikini” or even “undress her”.

Princess Kako, second daughter of Crown Prince Akishino, became the latest target when photos of her taking part in a New Year gathering hosted by the Japanese imperial family on January 2 were posted on X, according to news website MS News.

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Soon after the images of the 31-year-old princess in a blue dress waving from the balcony started circulating, one user jumped on the trend by asking Grok to “put [her] in a tiny bikini”.

The manipulated image gained more than 15 million views before it was eventually deleted. Other users also started generating their own deepfakes of the photo, including of the princess naked, her body covered in tattoos and dressed in provocative outfits.

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Japan’s Imperial Household Agency has not made any statements about the lewd photos.

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