Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI has placed new limits on the image generation features of its Grok chatbot on the social media platform X after widespread backlash over the creation and sharing of sexualized images.
The restrictions follow reports that users were able to ask Grok to digitally alter photos of people, including removing clothing and placing them in sexualized poses, often without consent, with the images then published directly in replies on X.
Grok now restricts image generation and editing on X to paying subscribers when users tag the chatbot in posts or comments.
According to Reuters, the change appeared to stop Grok from automatically generating and publishing sexualized images in public replies on the platform.
A Reuters reporter tested the restriction by requesting an edited image and received a response stating the tool was only available to subscribers.
However, users can still create sexualized images through the Grok tab within X and manually post them.
The standalone Grok app and website continue to allow free image generation without a subscription.
xAI responded to Reuters’ request for comment with what appeared to be an automated message, “Legacy Media Lies,” while X did not immediately respond.
Musk has said that anyone using Grok to create illegal content would face the same consequences as uploading such material directly.
Regulators and officials in multiple countries have said the new limits do not address their core concerns.
The European Commission stated that restricting image tools to paying users does not change its position on unlawful images of undressed women and children.
“Limiting the image generation and editing to paying subscribers, this doesn't change our fundamental issue, paid subscription or non-paid subscription, we don't want to see such images,” a Commission spokesperson said.
Officials in the United Kingdom, European Union, Malaysia, and India have raised concerns about Grok’s safeguards.
Germany’s media minister Wolfram Weimer described the spread of semi-nude images as the “industrialisation of sexual harassment.”
In the United States, a group of senators urged Apple and Google to remove X and Grok from their app stores over alleged violations of distribution rules.
Despite the controversy, X leadership highlighted high engagement levels during the period, and xAI announced it had raised $20 billion in a recent funding round.