X Limits Grok Image Tool To Subscribers After Deepfake Outcry

Social media service X has stopped its AI chatbot Grok from generating images for most users amid a furious backlash over sexualized pictures of women and children.

Many users have created sexual and/or violent deepfake imagery by prompting Grok Imagine, particularly asking it to remove clothing from images of clothed people.

X users attempting to create images are now met with a message reading, “Image generation and editing are currently limited to paying subscribers.” It then pushes them to a sign up link.

It is unclear if paying subscribers will still be able to create sexualized and non-consensual images of women following X’s limitation on non-paying users.

Grok – and by extension X owner Elon Musk – has come under massive fire in recent weeks over the issue, with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer among the loudest voices criticizing it over the deepfake issue. The threat of an X ban in the UK has been floated.

That hasn’t stopped xAI, the parent company of X that created Grok and its image tool, from this week announcing a $20B funding raise, with the likes of Valor Equity Partners, Stepstone Group, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Qatar Investment Authority, MGX, Baron Capital Group, Nvidia and Cisco Investments participating.

The imagery issue isn’t the first time Grok has gone rogue. Last year, xAI removed a series of offensive posts made by the tool that praised Adolf Hitler and made antisemitic remarks.