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Elon Musk’s xAI said late Wednesday that Grok will no longer be able to create sexualized images of real people on its social network X based on user prompts following weeks of consumer and political backlash and regulatory investigations.
“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,” xAI wrote in a post shared via the X Safety account on the site formally known as Twitter. “This restriction applies to all users, including paid subscribers.”
The announcement comes hours after California Attorney General Rob Bonta said his office is investigating xAI, which is headquartered in Silicon Valley, over its apparent “large-scale production of deepfake nonconsensual intimate images.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has often been a proponent for Musk and his companies, said in a post on X Wednesday morning, “xAI’s decision to create and host a breeding ground for predators to spread nonconsensual sexually explicit AI deepfakes, including images that digitally undress children, is vile.”
In recent weeks, probes were announced in India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Ireland, the U.K., France and Australia, and by the European Commission. Indonesia and Malaysia have both issued a temporary ban on Grok.
Those announcements came amid widespread criticism that Grok had enabled X users to easily generate sexual and violent images based on real photos of people on the social network through simple text-based prompts.
In the U.S., three Democratic senators have called on Apple and Google to remove the X and Grok apps from their app stores until the company makes changes to prevent easy creation of nonconsensual explicit images.
Musk’s company also said, in the post on Wednesday, that image creation editing through Grok on X will only be available to paid subscribers.
Earlier on Wednesday, Musk dared his followers on X to “break Grok image moderation.” He said that, “With NSFW enabled, Grok is supposed allow upper body nudity of imaginary adult humans (not real ones),” and compared such content to what’s seen in R-rated movies. Grok settings, he noted, would also “vary in other regions according to the laws on a country by country basis.”
WATCH: California attorney general launches investigation into xAI, Grok