Elon Musk’s Grok limits photo editing for most users after backlash over sexualised AI images

Grok, the artificial intelligence tool owned by billionaire Elon Musk, has disabled its image creation and editing feature for most users following a global backlash over its misuse to generate sexually explicit and violent imagery.

When users attempted to edit images on X, Musk’s social media network, Grok responded that image generation and editing were “currently limited to paying subscribers”.

Over the past week, X has been flooded with posts in which users prompted Grok to digitally alter images of women by stripping or sexualising them, often reducing clothing to bikinis or underwear.

In several cases, the AI tool appeared to comply, generating altered images based on user prompts.

Musk appeared to make light of the episode by reacting with laugh-cry emojis to AI-edited images of public figures, including himself, depicted in bikinis.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) last week issued a stern directive to X, ordering it to immediately remove all vulgar, obscene and unlawful content, particularly that generated through Grok or other AI tools.

The ministry asked the platform to submit a detailed Action Taken Report (ATR) within 72 hours, outlining technical and organisational measures adopted or proposed in relation to Grok, oversight by the Chief Compliance Officer, action taken against offending content and accounts, and mechanisms to ensure compliance with Indian laws.

MeitY said Grok was being misused to create and disseminate obscene images or videos of women, including by targeting women who post their own photos.

This, it said, reflected a serious failure of platform-level safeguards and amounted to gross misuse of AI technologies.

The government made it clear that compliance with the Information Technology Act and rules was not optional, and that statutory exemptions under Section 79 of the IT Act, relating to safe harbour for online intermediaries, were conditional on strict observance of due diligence obligations.

The ministry warned that any failure to meet these obligations would result in the loss of liability exemptions under Section 79, and expose the platform to action under other laws, including the IT Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

After X submitted a detailed reply, the government sought further clarification, asking the company to provide more specific information on how it handled obscene and sexually explicit content generated through Grok.

Officials said the initial response fell short of regulatory expectations, missing key details on what content was taken down, when it was removed, and what concrete steps were being taken to address the issue going forward.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday threatened strong action against X, demanding the company “get a grip” on the surge of AI-created images of partially clothed women and children on the platform. He described the content as “disgraceful” and “disgusting”.

Starmer said the communications regulator Ofcom had the government’s full support to act against the platform. “It’s unlawful. We’re not going to tolerate it. I’ve asked for all options to be on the table,” he said, adding that X must take down the material as it was “simply not tolerable”.