xAI restricts Grok image generation on X to paid users after backlash

Elon Musk’s xAI has limited the image generation feature of its Grok chatbot on the social media platform X to paying subscribers, Reuters has reported. The move follows a backlash over the tool’s use of AI to create sexualized images.

Reuters found that users had employed the feature to edit or create sexualized photos, including images of women and children in minimal clothing, often without the consent of those depicted. A flood of such semi-nude images on X prompted European lawmakers to call for legal action.

German media minister Wolfram Weimer described the images as the “industrialisation of sexual harassment.” The European Commission said on Monday the circulating images were unlawful and appalling.

Grok informed X users on Friday that image generation and editing were now exclusive to paying subscribers. The standalone Grok app, which operates separately from X, still allows users to generate images without a subscription.

When a Reuters reporter asked Grok on X to convert a picture of himself into one wearing a bikini—a common user request over the past week—the bot declined. It replied that the tool was only for paying subscribers of the platform.

In an automated response to an emailed request for comment from Reuters, xAI stated, “Legacy Media Lies.” X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Britain’s data regulator said it had asked X to explain its compliance with data protection laws following concerns that Grok was generating sexually abusive images of women. Musk said last week that anyone using Grok to create illegal content would face the same consequences as uploading such material directly.