Grok, the AI chatbot created by xAI, the artificial intelligence company founded by and majority-owned by Elon Musk, has switched off its image creation and editing function for most users after an uproar over sexualized and violent imagery created with it.
“Image generation and editing are currently limited to paying subscribers,” Grok replied to users of Musk’s X attempting to create images on Friday. The restriction comes amid threats of fines or even an outright ban on X in the U.K.
Keir Starmer, the U.K. Prime Minister and Labour Party leader, urged X mid-week to “get a grip” of a flood of AI-manipulated photos on the social platform that removed clothing or of women and children or put them in sexualized positions, decrying them as “disgraceful” and “disgusting.” In what was seen as a threat of a possible X ban, he emphasized that U.K. communications regulator Ofcom “has our full support to take action in relation to this.”
The Guardian reported that its research found that Grok had been used to “create pornographic videos of women without their consent, as well as images of women being shot and killed.”
The U.K.’s Online Safety Act gives Ofcom the power to seek court orders to block websites or apps in the country in serious cases. The regulator can also impose fines of up to 10 percent of a company’s global revenue. A year ago, Starmer’s government vowed to make “creating sexually explicit deepfake images a criminal offense” to crack down on “vile online abuse.”
Highlighted the government: “The proliferation of these hyper-realistic images has grown at an alarming rate, causing devastating harm to victims, particularly women and girls who are often the target. To tackle this, the government will introduce a new offense, meaning perpetrators could be charged for both creating and sharing these images, not only marking a crackdown on this abhorrent behavior but making it clear there is no excuse for creating a sexually explicit deepfake of someone without their consent.”
