Despite new restrictions, Elon Musk’s AI tool Grok is facing fierce criticism around the world for creating fake sexual images (deepfakes). The international outcry continued on Thursday, as the X platform (formerly Twitter) said it would block its bot from “undressing” people in photos. The scandal has prompted several countries to take drastic measures. The Philippines has become the third country to ban the tool, following Malaysia and Indonesia. Meanwhile, the UK and France are increasing pressure on the company after the system produced a flood of indecent photos of women and children.
On Wednesday, X announced that it would technically block users from creating images of people in bikinis, underwear and other provocative clothing. The block will apply in countries where such actions are illegal. However, critics say that this is not enough and accuse Musk of trying to monetize the problem, having initially limited these options to those who pay for a subscription.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer demanded that X implement the law immediately, warning of tightening the rules if necessary. Meanwhile in France, the Minister of Digitalization, Anne Le Henanff, said that “no platform is above the law”. In California, the attorney general has launched a formal investigation into the company xAI (creator of Grok) for sexually explicit material. The pressure has increased in particular because of the “Spicy Mode” function, which allowed users to create nude deepfakes with simple commands such as: “take off your clothes”. In addition to the states, 28 civil society groups have also asked Apple and Google to remove the X app and the Grok tool from their app stores (App Store and Play Store) due to the spread of these abusive images.