Elon Musk’s xAI has announced it will block the ability of its Grok AI tool to alter images of real people to put them in “revealing clothing such as bikinis”, amid a global backlash over the tool being used to generate explicit imagery.
The move came just hours after the billionaire said he was was not aware of any “naked underage images” made by Grok.
Scrutiny of Grok has intensified worldwide, with some people using it to digitally undress women and children without their consent and posting those images to X. Thousands of these sexualized AI images have inundated X over the last few weeks. xAI, which makes Grok, also owns X – both are run by Musk.
“This adds an extra layer of protection by helping to ensure that individuals who attempt to abuse the Grok account to violate the law or our policies can be held accountable,” the company posted on X on Wednesday evening. It also said that it has “zero tolerance for any forms of child sexual exploitation, non-consensual nudity, and unwanted sexual content”.
The changes X announced on Wednesday will apply to all users on the social media platform, even paying subscribers, the company said. X did not specify, however, whether people would still be able to create such images on the standalone Grok app.
Earlier on Wednesday, Musk wrote in a post on X: “I [sic] not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok. Literally zero.” Musk’s xAI and X have faced growing backlash globally, including an investigation by California’s attorney general and calls by lawmakers and advocacy groups for Apple and Google to drop Grok from app stores. UK regulators have also launched an investigation, and countries including Malaysia and Indonesia have instigated bans or legal action .
Musk has said that Grok was programmed to refuse illegal requests and must comply with the laws of any given country or state.
“Obviously, Grok does not spontaneously generate images. It does so only according to user requests,” Musk said on Wednesday.
Musk has said earlier on X that anyone using Grok to make illegal content would suffer the same consequences as if they uploaded illegal content.
Three Democratic US senators last week called on Apple and Alphabet’s Google to remove X and its built-in AI tool Grok from their app stores, citing the spread of nonconsensual sexual images of women and minors on the platform.
A coalition of women’s groups, tech watchdogs and progressive activists also called on the tech giants for a similar move.
Last week, X curtailed Grok’s ability to generate or edit images publicly for users who weren’t paying subscribers. However, industry experts and watchdogs have said that Grok was still able to produce sexually explicit images, and that restrictions, such as paywalling certain features, may not fully block access to deeper AI image tools.
In the UK, the law is set to change this week to criminalize the creation of such images, and the prime minister, Keir Starmer, said on Wednesday that X was working to comply with the new rules. Communications regulator Ofcom is investigating the AI tool.
X and xAI did not return request for comment. (The Guardian)