Elon Musk-owned xAI blocks image editing of real people for all users

Elon Musk-owned xAI has restricted its chatbot Grok’s image-editing capability for all users following outcry after the service was used to generate sexualised images.

Soon after the feature rolled out, a trend started in which users asked the chatbot to alter clothing of real individuals and many prompts asked Grok to undress individuals or put them in a bikini, including minors..

This outraged global regulators, prompting governments from Asia to Europe to act against the sexualised and explicit content. 

Indonesia and Malaysia temporarily banned the platform, while the United Kingdom’s (U.K.) Ofcom launched an investigation into Grok.

California Governor and Democratic party’s presidential front-runner for 2028, Gavin Newsom, called on Bonta to immediately investigate the company and hold xAI accountable.

However, Musk defended his company, stating that he had not seen any “naked” images of minor or underage persons generated by Grok.

Now, xAI management has put technological measures to prevent the Grok account from allowing the editing of images of real people in revealing clothes such as bikinis.

In a statement on X (formerly Twitter), the company wrote: “The new restriction applies to all users, including paid subscribers.”

Previously, the feature was limited to only paid subscribers and now xAI said that the restriction is based on the location of users, particularly in jurisdictions where such content is illegal.