LONDON — After outrage from governments and regulators around the world, Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, announced that to comply with local laws it will disable, in some locations, a Grok AI tool that allows users to generate sexualized images of people without their consent.
In a statement, the company said: “We now geoblock the ability of all users to generate images of real people in bikinis, underwear, and similar attire via the Grok account and in Grok in X in those jurisdictions where it’s illegal.”
Last week, after an initial uproar, X said it would restrict the image generation tool to paying subscribers, prompting critics to accuse the company of profiting from the problem rather than solving it.
Now, the company said the tool will be restricted to all users, even paid subscribers, in jurisdictions where it is blocked. It was not immediately clear, however, where the tool would be disabled.
In its statement, X also said it had “implemented technological measures to prevent the Grok account from allowing the editing of images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis. This restriction applies to all users, including paid subscribers.”
The British government, one of the most vocal critics of the AI tool, called it a “vindication” but said that a probe by its communications regulator would continue.
X’s announcement came late Wednesday, shortly after the California attorney general said that the state would investigate the “shocking” reports of nonconsensual sexualized material generated by the AI model.
Several countries and regions have called for action or taken steps of their own, including Malaysia, India, Indonesia, France and the European Union.
Earlier this week in the United Kingdom, the communications regulator Ofcom announced it was launching a “formal investigation” following reports that the chatbot on X was being used to create and share “undressed images of people — which may amount to intimate image abuse or pornography — and sexualised images of children that may amount to child sexual abuse material.”
Liz Kendall, Britain’s technology secretary, told Parliament this week that legislation passed last summer making it illegal to create nonconsensual intimate images in England and Wales would come into force “this week.”
An Ofcom spokesman said Thursday that they “welcomed” X’s announcement but that the agency would continue its investigation “round-the-clock to progress this and get answers into what went wrong and what’s being done to fix it.”
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday called the actions of Grok and X “disgusting and shameful.” Speaking to Parliament, Starmer added that the “decision to turn it into a premium service is horrific” and that he had been informed earlier in the day that X was working to comply with U.K. law.
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