XAI limits Grok images after uproar over sexualized content

"(Bloomberg/Amy Thomson and Lucy White) Elon Musk's XAI restricted Grok's image-generation feature for most users on the X social media platform after the artificial intelligence tool drew widespread condemnation for generating undressed images of women and children. As of Friday, Grok replied to users on the X that they'd need a paid subscription to generate and edit images. Those features were initially introduced on X for free with daily limits. The standalone Grok app, which operates separately from the social network, still allows users to generate pictures without subscribing."

"Grok's image-generation capabilities have gained notoriety over the past few weeks after users began asking it to edit photos of people mostly women to show them in bikinis. More users capitalized on the feature to create sexualized images of women and children on X. The tool was used to generate thousands of undressed images of people per hour, many without the subject's consent."

"Musk said in a post on X last week that anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content. Content featuring the sexualization and exploitation of children is also banned on X under its current terms of service. The AI tool has blurred the line between the risque and the illegal, with public criticism mounting after child-safety experts warned it was being used to create child sexual abuse material."

Grok's image-generation feature on X was limited to paid subscribers after the tool produced undressed and sexualized images of women and children. The standalone Grok app continues to allow image generation without a subscription. Users exploited editing prompts to create bikinied or undressed depictions, producing thousands of images per hour, often without subjects' consent. X's terms ban content sexualizing or exploiting children. Musk warned that users creating illegal content with Grok will face the same consequences as uploading illegal material. Child-safety experts raised alarms about generated child sexual abuse material, prompting public criticism and regulatory risk.

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