Elon Musk’s X restricts Grok photo editing amid concerns about sexualised images

Elon Musk’s X has announced new restrictions on its AI chatbot Grok (Kirsty Wigglesworth/PA)

Elon Musk’s X says AI chatbot Grok will no longer allow users to edit people in revealing clothing in places where it is illegal, following international outrage.

The AI tool, embedded in the social media platform X, has allowed users to create thousands of sexualised images of women and children, by "undressing people" from real photographs.

In a post on X on Wednesday, the company said it had imposed restrictions on “editing of images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis”.

“This adds an extra layer of protection by helping to ensure that individuals who attempt to abuse the Grok account to violate the law or our policies can be held accountable,” the company said.

“We now geoblock the ability of all users to generate images of real people in bikinis, underwear, and similar attire via the Grok account and in Grok in X in those jurisdictions where it’s illegal.”

The restriction will apply to all users, including paid subscribers, while image editing and creation will be limited to premium users.

On Wednesday, gardaí confirmed they are currently investigating 200 child sexual abuse images generated by Grok.

Mr Musk claimed that his chatbot would refuse to produce illegal content and appeared to blame “adversarial hacking” for the chatbot’s generation of sexualised images.

With Not Safe For Work (NSFW) settings switched on, he said in an X post on Wednesday that the chatbot is “supposed to allow upper body nudity of imaginary adult humans (not real ones) consistent with what can be seen in R-rated movies on Apple TV”.

“That is the de facto standard in America. This will vary in other regions according to the laws on a country by country basis,” he wrote on Wednesday night.

Mr Musk said he was not aware of “any naked underage images generated by Grok” and claimed the chatbot would “refuse to produce anything illegal” as its “operating principle” is to “obey the laws of any given country or state”.