Grok has yanked its image-generation toy out of the hands of most X users after the UK government openly weighed a ban over the AI feature that “undressed” people on command.
In replies posted to users on X, seen by The Register, the Grok account confirmed that “image generation and editing are currently limited to paying subscribers,” a change from the previous setup in which anyone could summon the system by tagging it in a post and asking for a picture.
That access helped fuel a grim trend: users uploading photos of clothed people – sometimes underage – and instructing the bot to remove their clothes or pose them in sexualized ways. Grok complied.
The rollback comes as governments openly float the idea of banning or boycotting X altogether if it fails to rein in the abuse enabled by its AI tools. In the UK, screenshots of Grok-generated images quickly drew the attention of ministers and regulators, who began questioning whether X is complying with the Online Safety Act.
Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips did not mince words, calling the use of Grok to create degrading, non-consensual intimate images “an absolute disgrace,” warning that lives can be “devastated” by tools used to harass and abuse women and girls, according to The Times. The government has already committed to banning so-called nudification apps and will become the first country to make it illegal to possess, create, or distribute AI tools designed to generate child sexual abuse material, with penalties of up to five years in prison, according to Phillips.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer echoed that line, branding what emerged on Grok as “completely unacceptable” and saying “all options are on the table” when asked whether the government would continue using the platform.
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“X need to get their act together and get this material down – and we will take action on this because it’s simply not tolerable,” the PM said, as per The Telegraph.
Parliament’s women and equalities committee has also signaled it is reconsidering its presence on the platform, saying that a service “actively producing explicit and abusive material against women and children” is not suitable for official communications.