Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence chatbot Grok has restricted its image generation features on social media platform X following mounting criticism over its misuse to create sexualised deepfake images of women and children.
On Friday, Grok informed users that its image generation and editing tools on X would now be accessible only to paying subscribers. However, the standalone Grok application, which operates independently of X, continues to allow free image generation.
The decision comes amid growing international pressure on Musk and his platform, with regulators and governments raising concerns over AI tools being used to manipulate images, including the removal of clothing from photographs without consent.
The European Commission earlier described such content circulating on X as “unlawful and appalling.” Similarly, the UK’s data protection watchdog said it had sought clarification from X regarding its compliance with data protection laws after reports that Grok was being used to create sexually abusive images of women.
Despite the restriction, the move has drawn criticism. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office labelled the change “insulting” to victims, arguing that limiting access to subscribers does not address the root problem.
“This simply turns an AI feature that enables the creation of illegal images into a premium service,” a Downing Street spokesperson said.
The European Union echoed similar concerns, with digital affairs spokesperson Thomas Regnier stating that whether the feature is paid or free is irrelevant. “We don’t want to see such images at all,” he said, urging platforms to ensure their systems cannot generate illegal content.
In response to the controversy, the European Commission has ordered X to preserve all internal documents and data related to Grok until the end of 2026.
Several countries, including France, Malaysia and India, have also criticised the platform over the issue.
Musk said last week that users who generate illegal content using Grok would face the same consequences as those who upload such material directly to the platform.
Grok has faced scrutiny before. Last year, the chatbot was criticised for producing anti-Semitic responses, prompting Musk’s AI company xAI to disable certain features and remove offensive content after the bot praised Adolf Hitler and made hateful remarks.