Elon Musk's Grok has limited its AI image generation tool to paid members after widespread backlash for using it to create non-consensual sexual images of real people, including minors.
Musk and the company that developed Grok, xAI, are facing threats and condemnation from governments around the world after the AI tool was used to digitally alter images of people, primarily women, to make them undress or engage in sexual positions.
When tagged with an image editing request in X, Grok now replies, “Image generation and editing is currently limited to paid members.”
This means that the majority of users on social media platforms will no longer be able to use Grok to create images, and their names and payment information will remain on file.
However, those who are not paying X subscribers can still use Grok to edit images in standalone apps and websites.
On Friday, the British Prime Minister's press secretary, Keir Starmer, told reporters that the move “simply turns the AI capabilities that enable the creation of illegal images into a premium service.”
When asked for comment, xAI sent an automated email response that did not address the issue.
In late December, some X users began tagging Grok on social media sites and asking him to digitally remove the clothes of people in their photos. The AI tools respected these requests, dressing the subjects in bikinis and underwear and manipulating their bodies into sexual positions. Some of the images included minors.
As more AI-generated images flooded social media sites, governments and regulators in countries such as the UK, EU, Italy, and India publicly threatened or took action against X and xAI.
Mr Starmer said in an interview on Greatest Hits Radio this week that Mr Grok's sexual deepfakes were “disgraceful” and “illegal”.
On January 3, Musk responded to the backlash for the first time, writing in a post by X: “Those who use Grok to create illegal content will suffer the same consequences as those who upload illegal content.”
The official X page also directed users to a policy page that said it had “zero tolerance for child sexual exploitation in any form” and would remove “certain media depicting physical child abuse.”
On Monday, the UK's communications regulator Ofcom told Business Insider it had “urgently contacted X and xAI to understand what steps they are taking to comply with their legal obligations to protect UK users.”
In the United States, take it down act It protects against non-consensual deepfakes, but the scope varies by age and body part displayed. Some states have also passed stricter laws regarding the spread of deepfakes.
