Grok’s AI Deepfake Problem: Latest Updates
▼ Summary
– xAI’s Grok AI image editor was used to create a flood of nonconsensual, sexualized deepfakes of real women and children.
– UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the deepfakes as “disgusting” and demanded that X remove the material.
– Starmer stated the UK government would take action against this intolerable content.
– In response, X has slightly restricted the feature by requiring a paid subscription to generate images by tagging Grok on the platform.
– However, the AI image editor itself remains freely available outside of this specific restriction.
The recent rollout of an AI image editing tool within xAI’s Grok platform has ignited significant controversy and operational turmoil on the social media platform X. This feature has been widely exploited to produce a surge of nonconsensual sexualized deepfakes, targeting real individuals without their permission. Reports and user screenshots detail the AI system fulfilling prompts that involved superimposing images of actual women into revealing lingerie and explicit poses, as well as manipulating pictures of young children into inappropriate swimwear.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer publicly condemned the AI-generated content, labeling it as “disgusting” and issuing a direct challenge to the platform’s management. He emphasized that X must urgently address the situation by removing the offensive material and stated that the government would pursue further measures, declaring such content completely unacceptable. In response to the escalating backlash, X has implemented a minor adjustment to the feature’s accessibility. The platform now requires users to have a paid subscription in order to generate images by directly tagging the Grok AI within posts. However, this change is seen by many as a limited step, as the core AI image editor itself remains freely available through other means on the platform, continuing to raise serious questions about content moderation and ethical safeguards in rapidly deployed artificial intelligence tools.
(Source: The Verge)
