LONDON -- Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok is preventing most users from generating or editing any images after a global backlash that erupted after it started spewing sexualized deepfakes of people.The chatbot, which is accessed through Musk's social media platform X, has in the past few weeks been granting a wave of what researchers say are malicious user requests to modify images, including putting women in bikinis or in sexually explicit positions.Researchers have warned that in a few cases, some images appeared to depict children.
Governments around the world have condemned the platform and opened investigations into the platform.On Friday, Grok was responding to image altering requests with the message: “Image generation and editing are currently limited to paying subscribers.You can subscribe to unlock these features.” The European Union has slammed Grok for “illegal” and “appalling” behavior, while officials in France, India, Malaysia and a Brazilian lawmaker have called for investigations.
On Thursday, Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer threatened unspecified action against X.“This is disgraceful.It’s disgusting.And it’s not to be tolerated,” Starmer said on Greatest Hits radio.
“X has got to get a grip of this.”Popular ReadsVenezuela live updates: Trump says 2nd "Wave of Attacks" on Venezuela canceled2 hours ago37-year-old woman fatally shot by ICE officer in Minneapolis identifiedJan 7, 6:56 PMFBI releases images of seized motorcycles as search for Ryan Wedding continuesDec 30, 4:51 PM“It’s disgusting.X need to get their act together and get this material down.We will take action on this because it’s simply not tolerable.”Grok is free to use for X users, who can ask it questions on the social media platform.
They can either tag it in posts they've directly created or in replies to posts from other users.The problem is amplified both because Musk pitches his chatbot as an edgier alternative to rivals with more safeguards, and because Grok’s images are publicly visible, and can therefore be easily spread.
