Elon Musk’s Grok AI chatbot will no longer allow users to sexualize images of real people by portraying their targets in revealing clothing, the company announced Wednesday evening, following global criticism over the tool’s usage as a “nudify” app to portray women and even children in sexual situations.
CNN reports that Elon Musk’s X platform confirmed Wednesday that it has implemented technological restrictions preventing Grok from editing sexualized images of real people by putting them in revealing clothing such as string bikinis. The announcement came after global outrage emerged when researchers discovered the AI chatbot was complying with user requests to digitally undress images of adults and, in some instances, children.
The new restrictions apply universally to all users, including those with paid premium subscriptions to the X platform. The company made the announcement through its Safety team account, confirming changes that researchers and journalists had already begun observing in recent days.
Within the past week, xAI, which owns both Grok and the X platform, had already limited image generation capabilities for Grok to paying X premium subscribers only. Users and researchers noticed modifications to how Grok responded to image generation requests, even among premium subscribers, before the company’s official confirmation Wednesday evening.
However, researchers at AI Forensics, a European non-profit organization that investigates algorithms, reported observing inconsistencies in how Grok handles pornographic content generation. They noted differences between public interactions with Grok on X and private conversations on the Grok.com website.
In its Wednesday statement, X reiterated its commitment to taking action against illegal content on the platform, including Child Sexual Abuse Material. The company stated it removes such content, permanently suspends accounts involved, and collaborates with local governments and law enforcement agencies when necessary. X warned that anyone using or prompting Grok to create illegal content will face the same consequences as those who directly upload illegal material.
Breitbart News previously reported that the global firestorm was kicked off by Grok generated deepfake sexualized images of children, which Elon Musk’s organization blamed on “lapses in safeguards:”
xAI, the artificial intelligence company founded by tech tycoon Elon Musk, has come under fire after its Grok chatbot created and shared inappropriate, sexualized images of minors on his X social media platform. The AI-generated images, which depicted children and underage teens in minimal clothing, violated Grok’s own content policies prohibiting the sexualization of minors.
In a series of apologetic posts on X, Grok explained that “lapses in safeguards” had allowed the disturbing content to be generated by the AI model in response to user prompts over a period of several days. The offending images were subsequently taken down after being identified.
“We’ve identified lapses in safeguards and are urgently fixing them,” Grok stated on Friday. “Child sexual abuse material is illegal and prohibited.”
Elon Musk addressed the controversy Wednesday in a post on X, stating he was not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok. He claimed there were literally zero such instances. Musk added that Grok refuses to produce anything illegal, explaining that the operating principle for Grok is to obey the laws of any given country or state.
Despite Musk’s assertions, researchers contradicted his statements. They indicated that while fully nude images were relatively rare, the primary concern involved Grok complying with user requests to modify images of minors and place them in revealing clothing, including bikinis and underwear, as well as positioning them in sexually provocative poses. Such non-consensual intimate images of minors fall under Child Sexual Abuse Material laws, and creators of these images could face criminal prosecution.
Those found creating such content are potentially subject to fines and imprisonment under the Take it Down Act, which was signed into law last year by President Donald Trump. The legislation specifically addresses non-consensual intimate imagery and provides legal frameworks for prosecution.
Musk’s initial refusal to remove Grok’s “nudify” functionality, a trap no other major AI company has fallen into, almost led to an international incident when the UK threatened to ban X over its non-consensual sexualization of women and children:
The ability of X-bundled AI chat bot Grok to generate images on command, which has been used as a “nudify” tool in recent weeks to manipulate images of public figures, politicians, private individuals and even children, has triggered anger in the British government. Action up to and including billion-dollar fines and even outright banning X, with separate moves to ban “nudification” apps that could see those with access to Grok potentially facing jail time even without using it to generate illegal content.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said of X.com, reports The Daily Telegraph, that X will either bend to the will of the British government or face consequences. He said Grok’s abilities are “disgraceful”, “not tolerable”, and “disgusting” and the British government will force action.
He said of the UK media regulator Ofcom, recently given wide-ranging new powers by the controversial Online Safety Act: “X has got to get a grip of this and Ofcom has our full support to take action in relation to this. This is wrong. It’s unlawful. We’re not going to tolerate it. I’ve asked for all options to be on the table.”
Read more at CNN here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
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