Social media platform X on Thursday said that it has restricted all users from editing images of “real persons in revealing clothing” using its artificial intelligence chatbot Grok.
The decision came after the tool drew condemnation for creating non-consensual sexually explicit photos.
Grok had allowed requests by users to digitally manipulate photos of persons – mostly women – by undressing them and sexualising their images without their consent. It had been creating thousands of such images every hour, Bloomberg reported.
On January 9, Grok began allowing only paying subscribers to use its image generation and editing features.
In a statement posted on X on Thursday, the company said that the new restriction applies to all users, including paid subscribers.
This added “an extra layer of protection by helping to ensure that individuals who attempt to abuse the Grok account to violate the law or our policies can be held accountable”, the platform added.
X also said that it has begun “geoblocking” the ability of all users to generate images of real persons in “bikini, underwear and similar attire” using the Grok account.
The move comes amid regulatory pressure from governments in several countries.
On Wednesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta said that they were seeking answers from X owner Elon Musk after he said he was unaware of any instances of “naked underage images” generated by Grok, Reuters reported.
The United Kingdom government had on January 9 asked media regulator Ofcom to use its powers, including an effective ban, against the social media platform in connection with the unlawful images Grok was creating
On January 8, the European Union ordered X to retain all internal documents relating to Grok till the end of the year while the bloc ensures compliance with its digital rules.
The Indian government had on January 2 directed X to remove sexually explicit content generated by Grok.
The Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology told the platform to “undertake a comprehensive technical, procedural and governance-level review” of the chatbot to ensure that it does not generate content that contains nudity or sexually explicit material.
In the letter to X’s chief compliance officer in India, the Union government said that users were misusing Grok to create fake accounts to generate and share obscene photos and videos of women with the intent of denigrating them.
Hosting or publishing obscene and sexually explicit content, including through AI-enabled tools, is invasive of bodily privacy and attracts serious penal consequences, the government had said.
On January 3, amid criticism, Musk said that “anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content”.
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