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Elon Musk’s XAI has restricted the image-generation function on its Grok AI model in response to outrage over the spread of fake erotic images on social media platforms.
The billionaire entrepreneur came under scrutiny last week when thousands of people began using Grok to create sexual deepfakes of women and, in some cases, children — sharing them on X as well as the separate Grok app, both of which are run by Musk’s XAI start-up.
After facing pressure from governments around the world, including bans and threats of legal action, the company announced late Wednesday that it had “implemented technical measures” to stop Grok from producing certain sexually explicit images.
It marks a rare comeback by the world’s richest man, who has insisted on keeping his AI products with less content “railings” than rivals like OpenAI and Google, in line with his “free speech” ideals, but has also made a bid to boost downloads of his Grok app, according to insiders.
XAI said in a post on X that Grok will no longer allow “editing of images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis.”
It added that “creating images of real people in bikinis, underwear and similar attire through Grok accounts and Grok in X” will also be blocked in jurisdictions where it is illegal.
The fall comes after the UK government announced it would speed up the implementation of new powers, making it a criminal offense to take non-consensual intimate photographs, including AI.
Earlier on Wednesday, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said Musk’s social media platform had indicated to government officials that it was working to comply with the country’s online safety laws by stopping the generation of non-consensual sexual images.
“We have made it clear to X that these images are illegal, condemnable and need to be dealt with,” Starmer said. “I am informed that
Musk last week pushed back against UK government threats to ban the platform over the issue, saying he “wants any excuse for censorship” and argued that X was being edged out where other rivals offered similar capabilities.
But in a post on X on Wednesday, Musk said: “When asked to produce drawings, he will refuse to produce anything illegal, as the operating principle for Grok is to comply with the laws of any country or state.”
He said he was “not aware of any nude underage images made by Grok. Virtually zero.”
The issue has prompted threats of fines and sanctions in the EU, Britain and France, and the announcement of an investigation by Britain’s Ofcom regulator. Grok is also banned in Indonesia and Malaysia.
California’s attorney-general said on Wednesday that the US state has launched an investigation into Grok and XAI “over nude, sexual AI images of women and children.”
A spokesperson for the European Commission said earlier on Wednesday that the EU was considering additional measures to ban Grok from producing sexual images of women and children and that if these changes would not be effective, the Commission would not hesitate to use the DSA’s full enforcement toolbox.
Last Friday, xAI said it was limiting the use of its Grok image generator to paid customers only. On Wednesday,
It added: “We take action to remove high-priority offending content, including child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and non-consensual nudity, taking appropriate action against accounts that violate our X rules.”
As of late Tuesday night, Grok was ignoring requests from many X users worldwide to generate erotic deepfakes, although some were still being generated, according to data provided by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue think-tank.
The number of requests for non-consensual deepfakes increased in early January, especially after Musk shared a fake image of himself in a bikini.
This also comes as xAI has experienced changes to its security teams. In the first week of December, xAI’s head of product security Vincent Stark left the company, along with Norman Mu and Alex Chen, one of its top AI security researchers who looked into the nuances of Grok’s personality and behavior.
Additional reporting by Barbara Moens in Brussels
