X Didn’t Fix Grok’s ‘Undressing’ Problem. It Just Makes People Pay for It

New York: After making many “undressing” images of women and minors, Elon Musk’s X has limited who can use its Grok image generator. Despite these changes, people still ask Grok for sexualized images on the platform.

On Friday, Grok started telling users that image generation is “currently limited to paying subscribers.” This message also encouraged people to buy a $395 annual subscription. Even when users asked Grok to create non-sexual images, it responded with the same message.

This change follows backlash against Musk’s X and xAI, which created Grok. Regulators are looking into claims of nonconsensual explicit imagery, including alleged images of minors. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has suggested a ban on X and called many actions “unlawful.”

X and xAI have not confirmed that image generation is only for paying users. An X spokesperson told WIRED that they are taking actions against illegal content, including child sexual abuse material. Unlike Apple and Google, X and Grok remain available in app stores, which has raised more concerns.

For over a week, users have been asking Grok to edit pictures of women to show barely any clothing. Even though there were fewer results of these inappropriate images now, subscribers could still get sexualized images.

Paul Bouchaud, a lead researcher at AI Forensics, mentioned, “We observe the same kind of prompt, we observe the same kind of outcome, just fewer than before.” WIRED found that Grok could still create images for requests like “put her in latex lingerie.”

Grok has also been used to make violent sexual videos of real people, including celebrities. Bouchaud highlighted that even without verification, they could generate sexually explicit videos.

A test by WIRED using a free account on Grok’s app showed that images could still be created, while on X, this wasn’t allowed.

Experts suggest that the recent decision may help limit harmful material slightly, but it has been labeled a small step that does not fully address the issue. Emma Pickering from the UK domestic abuse charity Refuge criticized it as saying, “The monetization of abuse” has not stopped the harm but merely hidden it behind a subscription paywall.