Elon Musk's Grok barred from undressing images after global backlash

Elon Musk-owned social media platform X on Wednesday said it had taken measures to prevent its Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot Grok from undressing images of real people.

This comes after global backlash over its feature of generating sexualised photos of women and children.

The announcement by the social media platform comes following an investigation launched into Musk's xAI, the developer of Grok, by California's attorney general over the sexually explicit content.

Further, multiple countries even blocked access to the chatbot or launched their own probes.

In a statement, X said it will "geoblock the ability" of all Grok and X users to create images of people in "bikinis, underwear, and similar attire" in those jurisdictions where such actions are deemed illegal.

"We have implemented technological measures to prevent the Grok account from allowing the editing of images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis," X's safety team said in a statement.

"This restriction applies to all users, including paid subscribers."

"However content is created or whether users are free or paid subscribers, our Safety team are working around the clock to add additional safeguards, take swift and decisive action to remove violating and illegal content, permanently suspend accounts where appropriate, and collaborate with local governments and law enforcement as necessary," X said.

Further, the statement said in an "extra layer of protection," image creation and the ability to edit photos via X's Grok account was will now only be available for paid subscribers.

Elon Musk's defence

On Wednesday, Elon Musk had said he was not aware of any "naked underage images" ⁠generated by ‌xAI's Grok chatbot amid widespread criticism.

Musk claimed that Grok was programmed to refuse illegal requests and ‍must comply with the laws of any given country or state.

"Obviously, Grok does not spontaneously generate images, it does so only according to user requests," ​Musk said ‌on X.

Several women's and children's advocacy groups called for Apple ⁠and Google to drop the Grok app from app stores.

India pulls up Grok

On January 2, India's IT ministry had pulled up 'X' and directed it to immediately remove all vulgar, obscene and unlawful content generated by Grok or face action under the law.

The ministry had asked the US-based platform to submit a detailed action taken report (ATR), which included specific technical and organisational measures adopted or proposed in relation to the Grok application; the role and oversight exercised by the Chief Compliance Officer; actions taken against offending content, users and accounts; as well as mechanisms to ensure compliance with the mandatory reporting requirement under Indian laws.

The government had taken a note of the misuse of Grok. It said users created fake accounts to host, generate, publish or share obscene images or videos of women in a derogatory or vulgar manner.

X was asked to remove or disable access "without delay" to all content already generated or disseminated in violation of applicable laws, in strict compliance with the timelines prescribed under the IT Rules, 2021, without, as such, vitiating the evidence.

The platform was also ordered to enforce user terms of service and AI usage restrictions, including ensuring taking strong measures like suspension of accounts and other actions against violating users and accounts.