Elon Musk’s AI venture has responded to significant backlash by limiting Grok’s controversial image-generation tool to paying subscribers on X. This decision follows widespread criticism for allowing users to create and disseminate sexualized and inappropriate images of women and children.
As of Friday, Grok announced that only paying subscribers would have access to generate and modify images on the platform. However, it’s important to note that these restrictions do not apply to the Grok app, which, at the time of this writing, continues to permit image generation without a subscription.
Originally, Grok’s image generation feature was open to all users with daily limits, enabling individuals to upload images and generate edited versions, including sexualized variants. This led to a surge of non-consensual images of children as well as public figures, prompting denouncements from several governments worldwide.
Musk and X have publicly condemned the misuse of the tool and reiterated their commitment to policies prohibiting illegal content on the platform. “Anyone using Grok to create illegal content will face the same repercussions as uploading illegal content directly,” Musk tweeted last week.
Governments from the U.K., the European Union, and India have expressed strong opposition to X and Grok’s practices. The EU recently requested that xAI preserve all documentation related to the chatbot, while India’s communications ministry demanded immediate changes to prevent misuse of image generation features or lose safe harbor protections in the country. Additionally, the U.K.’s communications regulator has reached out to xAI regarding the situation.
Key Points:
– Grok’s image-generation tool is now limited to paying subscribers on X.
– The Grok app remains unrestricted for image generation.
– There has been significant government criticism due to the generation of non-consensual images.
– X and Musk are reinforcing their policies against illegal content.
– Global regulatory bodies are monitoring and demanding changes from the company.
