Elon Musk's social media platform X, formerly Twitter, has moved to block its artificial intelligence tool Grok from generating sexually explicit images of real people. The announcement comes amid intense global scrutiny and a UK regulatory investigation into the AI's capabilities.
New Safeguards Amid Global Scrutiny
The company stated on Wednesday evening that it will prevent Grok from altering images of real individuals to place them in "revealing clothing such as bikinis". This policy change applies to all users on the platform, including paying subscribers. xAI, the Musk-owned company that develops Grok, also owns X.
"This adds 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 company posted on X. It emphasised its "zero tolerance for any forms of child sexual exploitation, non-consensual nudity, and unwanted sexual content".
Musk's Denial and Immediate Policy Shift
The restriction was implemented just hours after Elon Musk himself claimed he was unaware of any inappropriate content generated by the AI. In a post on X, Musk wrote: "I [sic] not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok. Literally zero."
This statement contrasted sharply with reports that thousands of sexualised AI images, including non-consensual digitally altered pictures of women and children, had flooded X in recent weeks. Musk later clarified that "Grok does not spontaneously generate images. It does so only according to user requests" and warned that users creating illegal content would face consequences.
Regulatory Pressure and International Bans
The AI tool is facing mounting backlash worldwide. Authorities in California have launched an investigation, while lawmakers and advocacy groups in the United States are urging Apple and Google to remove Grok from their app stores. Countries including Malaysia and Indonesia have instigated bans or legal action.
In the United Kingdom, communications regulator Ofcom has opened an investigation into Grok. The law is also set to change this week to criminalise the creation of sexually explicit deepfake images. Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirmed on Wednesday that X was working to comply with the new UK rules.
Last week, X already curtailed Grok's ability to generate or edit images publicly for non-paying users. However, industry experts noted that paywalling features may not fully block access to more advanced AI image tools, and that Grok could still produce explicit content.
X and xAI did not respond to requests for further comment on whether the new restrictions would also apply to the standalone Grok app.
