Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence tool in the eye of the storm: Thousands of nude photos per hour, criticism from decision makers

Billionaire Elon Musk’s an artificial intelligence company xAI has limited the image creation feature of the Grok artificial intelligence from most users of the X messaging service, reports the news agency Bloomberg.

Now the photo service can only be used by users who pay for it. However, Grok’s separate app, which works independently of social media, still allows you to create images without a subscription. The decision to charge was made after the tool caused widespread disapproval by creating nude images of women and children.

Grok users started editing pictures of people – mostly women – into things like bikinis. The feature was also used to create images that sexualized women and children. The tool was used to create thousands of nude photos per hour, often without the consent of the people depicted.

xAI’s representative did not immediately agree to comment on the matter. However, Musk stated in his X message last week that creating illegal content with Grok will be subject to the same penalties as uploading illegal content to the service. The sexualization and exploitation of children is prohibited in X’s current terms of use.

The decision-makers intervene in the game

Public criticism has grown even more and, according to Bloomberg, the European Union has also intervened by ordering X to retain internal documents related to Grok until the end of the year. In addition, the EU has condemned some of the images of children spread in the service as illegal.

Also the Prime Minister of Great Britain Keir Starmer considers that the restrictions are not sufficient. Spokesperson for the country’s administration Geraint Ellisin according to the change only turns the creation of illegal images into a paid service, which is not a solution. According to Ellis, the situation is an insult to the victims of misogyny and sexual violence.

Bloomberg also reports that three Democratic senators in the United States have demanded that Apple and Google remove the X and Grok applications from their app stores.

The senators believe that inaction would call into question the companies’ claims of a safe user experience. Apple and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The number of fake nudes has increased

Helsingin Sanomat newsthat the criticism directed at Grok is related to the sharp increase in the number of sexually tinged images. Message service X has become by far the most popular platform for producing such images in a short time.

Social media researcher Geneviev Oh’n According to Grok, he produced approximately 6,700 sexually explicit or nudity images per hour during the day on the 5th and 6th. January.

By comparison, five other similar sites averaged just 79 such images per hour over the same period.

Bloomberg’s according to xAI’s competitor OpenAI also intends to make erotica a part of its artificial intelligence strategy. The company plans to introduce an “adult mode” to ChatGPT in the first quarter of this year.