Between the end of December and the beginning of January, Xthe social network owned by Elon Muskpresented a wave of sexualized images generated with Grokthe artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot created by the technology magnate that can be used through the aforementioned platform.
The images mainly featured women and minors..
The situation triggered intense questions from the victims and their families, as well as officials from different countries and non-governmental organizations.
The chatbot, in response to user requests, has created photos in which people are seen without clothes, dressed in clothes that reveal a large part of their body and/or posing in different ways.
While some of the victims have criticized Grok for allowing the creation and alteration of images for these purposes, others have demanded that this technology be banned and the photos removed.
Others have threatened to take legal action, as a result of the deepfakes that have been created with the chatbot and shared through the social network.
Broadly speaking, Deepfakes consist of a video, image or audio that has been digitally created, distorted or modified to simulate that an individual is doing an action that he or she did not actually do.
With the rapid advances of AI, Some people have resorted to this technology to generate pornographic content or even carry out extortion.which has raised concern among cybersecurity specialists and officials from different governments.
Grok’s chatbot can be used through an application, a website and an account on X, the social network that before being acquired by Musk in 2022 was called Twitter.
In the latter, users can make their requests to Grok in public publications, which will then be answered by the chatbot.
Although the system has security measures that prevent the generation of completely nude images, some X users have found ways to generate sexually explicit content through certain guidelines.
How Grok responded after the questioned images generated with his AI
On the night of Thursday, January 8, Grok’s account on X began limiting AI image requests to site subscribers who pay for certain premium featuresaccording to information recovered by the New York Times.
According to the AI chatbot, The change occurred after “backlash over its ability to create sexualized deepfakes without consent”.
However, he added, Users can “subscribe or switch to the standalone Grok site to get similar features”.
In December last year, Musk asked Grok to create an image of himself in a bikini, which he shared on his X account.
Likewise, in 2024 it added sexually explicit chatbots to Grok, positioning its AI firm, xAI, as the first major company of its kind to do so.
Amidst the criticism, Musk announced on Saturday that accounts that try to use Grok to create images of naked children will face consequences..
X stated in a statement that will remove illegal content that shows minors and will permanently suspend accounts that request Grok to create such images.
The reactions after the questioned images generated with Grok’s AI
Possession or sharing of sexual images of minors is illegal in many countries. Some also ban AI-generated sexual images of minors.
The United States and the United Kingdom, among other countries, have enacted laws against the sharing of non-consensual nude images, usually referred to as “revenge porn.”
According to information gathered by the aforementioned newspaper, a Brazilian official requested a ban on X on Monday last week until the country can investigate the increase in sexualized images.
On Saturday, Indian regulators demanded that X and xAI take steps to prevent misuse of their technology.
That same week, two French lawmakers announced that they had reported X to the Paris prosecutor’s office.
The European Commission said it was investigating the situation.
In the United States, Senators Ron Wyden (Oregon), Ed Markey (Massachusetts) and Ben Ray Luján (New Mexico) sent a letter asking Apple and Google to remove X and Grok from their app stores.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated in an interview last week that The images are “disgusting” and will not be “tolerated”.
It added that it had asked the British internet regulator to consider “all options” in response.
A spokesperson for Starmer stated, according to the Timeswhich limiting image creation to X subscribers “is not a solution”.
“It simply turns an AI function that allows the creation of illegal images into a premium service”.
