Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, has restricted access to Grok’s image-generation feature for most users on the X social media platform due to concerns about misuse.
The move comes after reports that the AI tool was being used to generate sexualised images of women and children without consent.
As of Friday, only users with a paid X subscription can generate or edit images using Grok on the platform.
However, the standalone Grok app remains unaffected and continues to allow users to generate images at no cost.
The controversy has drawn sharp criticism from child-safety advocates, who warn that the technology has blurred the line between provocative and illegal content. Experts have raised alarm that the tool could be exploited to create child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
According to reports, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) — the UK-designated body responsible for identifying and removing child sexual abuse material online — has discovered criminal images on the dark web that were allegedly generated using Grok.
Regulators have warned that platforms which fail to proactively prevent or remove such content could face heavy fines or access restrictions.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has since stated that the government fully supports media regulator Ofcom in taking action against platforms that fail to uphold child-safety standards online.
