UK slams Grok changes as "insulting" to abuse victims

London [UK], January 10: British media outlets on Friday quoted the office of the British prime minister as saying that changes imposed on Grok, an AI chatbot developed by xAI, only convert deepfake creation into a "premium service" and are "insulting" to victims of misogyny and sexual violence.
Image editing on X's Grok AI tool has been limited to paid subscribers, according to a message displayed by the chatbot. Users were previously able to upload a picture and ask Grok to alter the image, but the AI system now replies with the notice: "Image generation and editing are currently limited to paying subscribers."
X and xAI, both owned by U.S. entrepreneur Elon Musk, have recently faced mounting criticism after reports that Grok was used to generate allegedly illegal sexual content. The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), a UK-based watchdog, had warned that criminals exploited Grok to create child sexual abuse imagery.
The prime minister's spokesman was quoted by Sky News as saying that the latest move "simply turns an AI feature that allows the creation of unlawful images into a premium service," calling it "not a solution" and "insulting the victims of misogyny and sexual violence."
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had previously said that Grok being used to create illegal images was "disgraceful" and "disgusting". He told X to "get their act together" and "get a grip on this".
Source: Xinhua News Agency