LONDON (AP) — Days after the incident global backlash Eruption erupts over Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok generating sexual deepfakes of people; Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth The Pentagon said it would embrace the technology.
Hegseth said Monday that Grok will soon be deployed on “all unclassified and classified networks” within the department. U.S. authorities support the technology, even as governments around the world condemn it.
The growing alarm from various countries presents nightmarish possibilities. Nude authentication app One that uses artificial intelligence to generate sexually explicit deepfake images.
Let’s take a closer look here:
Request for disqualification
The issue came to light last year after the launch of Grok Imagine, an AI image generator that lets users create videos and photos by entering text prompts. It includes a so-called “spicy mode” that can generate adult content.
Things started snowballing late last month when Grok, hosted on X, began allowing a large number of user requests to modify images posted by others, such as “I want my girlfriend to wear a transparent bikini.”
The problem was compounded both by Mr. Musk’s pitching of his chatbot as a cutting-edge alternative with fewer safeguards than competitors, and by the fact that Mr. Grok’s image was publicly available and could be easily spread.
Mr. Musk’s response
Apparently in response to this outrage, Grok said it would restrict image generation and editing capabilities to paid members.
On Friday, the chatbot was responding to requests to change images with the message: “Image generation and editing are currently limited to paid subscribers. You can subscribe to unlock these features.”
It only allowed publishing requests from X users with the blue check mark given to premium subscribers who pay $8 a month for additional features.
On Tuesday, The Associated Press confirmed that free users can still use image editing tools on X by clicking the “Edit Image” button that appears on every image posted to the platform instead of tagging Grok with a request. The standalone Grok website and app were also still accepting image editing requests as of Tuesday.
Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI responded to a request for comment with an automated response: “Legacy Media Lies.”
X previously said it would take steps to remove illegal content, including child sexual abuse material, permanently suspend user accounts and “cooperate with local authorities and law enforcement as appropriate.” “Those who use Grok to create illegal content will suffer the same consequences as those who upload illegal content,” Musk warned.
But the government is not satisfied with this and is demanding that Musk do more to curb explicit and abusive content.
Malaysia
authorities said on tuesday They will take legal action against X and xAI for failing to keep users safe.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission said in a statement that it has hired a lawyer and will begin legal proceedings soon.
The group said Grok is being misused to generate and distribute harmful content, including sexually explicit, obscene, highly offensive images and non-consensual manipulated images.
The announcement comes days after it banned Grok until effective safeguards are put in place, noting that it has already sent a letter to X and xAI demanding stronger protections.
Indonesia
Temporarily a country in Southeast Asia blocked access I went to Grok on Saturday.
“The government considers non-consensual sexual deepfakes to be a serious violation of the human rights, dignity and security of citizens in the digital space,” Meutiya Hafid, Indonesia’s Minister of Communications and Digital Affairs, said in a statement.
Officials said Grok does not have guardrails to prevent users from creating and distributing pornographic content based on real photos of Indonesian residents, and that there is a risk of violating privacy and publicity rights if the photos are manipulated and shared without consent.
uk
Britain’s media regulator on Monday launched an investigation into whether Grok breached its obligations to protect people from illegal content. Regulator Ofcom said images produced by Grok of children being sexualized or people being undressed could constitute pornography or child sexual abuse material.
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall called AI-generated images “weapons of abuse” and said a centre-left Labor government would target the root of the problem by making it a crime for companies to provide tools to create nude images without consent.
Mr. Kendall said that depending on the outcome of the investigation and a court order blocking access to the site, Company X could be fined up to 10% of its eligible global revenue.
“They can choose to act sooner to prevent this abhorrent and illegal content from being shared on their platforms,” Kendall told parliament.
Over the weekend, Musk called the British government “fascist” and said it was trying to suppress free speech.
Under the UK’s Online Safety Act, social media platforms must prevent and remove child sexual abuse content if they become aware of it.
european union
Chief High-Tech Affairs Officer for the 27-nation bloc Warning That means we have to deal with that problem.
“X now needs to fix its AI tools in the EU, and they must do it quickly. If not, we will not hesitate to make full use of the DSA to protect EU citizens,” Henna Virkkunen posted on digital services law. She is Executive Vice-President for Technology Sovereignty, Security and Democracy at the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union.
The European Commission has ordered Company X to preserve all internal documents and data related to Grok until the end of 2026 under the bloc’s digital regulations, a spokesperson said last week.
The order is part of a broader investigation under EU digital security laws and follows a similar order last year to preserve files after Grok spread Holocaust-denying content.
Under EU law, “what is being generated here is unacceptable, so all platforms must correct their positions,” said spokesman Thomas Renier. “And complying with EU law is not an option; it is an obligation.”
France
The Paris public prosecutor’s office announced that authorities will expand their ongoing investigation into X to include sexually explicit deepfakes following complaints from lawmakers.
Three government ministers warned prosecutors about the “clearly illegal content” produced by Grok and posted on X, according to a government statement.
The government also flagged problems with the country’s communications regulator over possible breaches of the Digital Services Act.
India
indian government issued an ultimatum They demanded that X remove all “illegal content” and take action against offending users.
The ministry accused Grok of “gross misuse” of AI and gross failures in its safeguards and enforcement by allowing it to produce and share “obscene images and videos in a derogatory or indecent manner with the aim of unfairly defaming women.”
The ministry warned that failure to comply by the 72-hour deadline could expose the company to bigger legal problems, but the deadline passed with no public information from India.
Brazil
Rep. Erica Hilton said she had reported Grok and X to Brazil’s Federal Prosecutor’s Office and the country’s data protection watchdog.
In a social media post she said: accused both the production and publication of sexual images of women and children without their consent.
He said X’s AI capabilities should be disabled until the investigation is complete.
Hilton, one of Brazil’s first transgender legislators, criticized how users were able to force Grok to digitally alter published photos, including “swapping women’s and girls’ clothes with bikinis and making them provocative and erotic.”
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AP Technology Writer Kaitlyn Huamani in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
