No, Grok has not blocked its deep fake feature

Elon Musk’s X has partially restricted access to Grok’s photo editing capabilities amid growing backlash over… flood of sexual and non-consensual deepfakes of adults and minors generated by the platform. As of this writing, he no longer creates images as @grok replies for free, but Grok’s photo editing tools remain readily available to any X user to produce images, whether sexual or tame in nature.

X users were previously able to ask Grok — by tagging @grok in a tweet — to edit or create photos on the platform by tagging them in a post. Users who try this now face an automated response from a chatbot account, telling them that “photo creation and editing is currently limited to paying subscribers.” The response includes a link encouraging them to sign up for X’s paid programs to “unlock these features.”

The message gives the impression that only paid X users can edit or create images with Grok. This message has been reinforced in several now-circulating headlines suggesting that xAI, another Musk company that makes Grok, has restricted Grok’s photo-editing capabilities to this select group of users. But this impression is wrong. All X users — including free users — can still use Grok to edit and create images, including the sexually suggestive fake photos that initially landed Grok in hot water.

Interacting with Grok through replies to X is one of the many ways to use the AI ​​chatbot. For example, the Edit Image button still invokes Grok on every image displayed on X’s desktop site, and that same button can be accessed in the X app by long-pressing on any image. Grok can also be accessed through a standalone website or app, as well as via a heavily promoted tab on the X apps and the X website. These remain readily available to free users, and require no additional effort compared to the @grok command.

Edge We tested Grok’s website, app, and Tab

The restrictions on X come after Grok was used to create sexual images of primarily women, many of them real, as well as minors. A lot of this has fallen on X, which Financial Times It’s called “The deepfake porn site formerly known as Twitter.” Fake stripteases, as well as other sexual material, have an impact angry Regulators around the world, who have threatened to take action against Something of a legal vacuum.

Musk and xAI have also threatened to take action against users who create illegal content using Grok, rather than ensuring there are guardrails in place that make it impossible to create in the first place.

X’s approach — limiting access rather than restricting use — contrasts with that taken by other AI companies like Google and OpenAI, which tend to impose strict guardrails on tools like Gemini and ChatGPT, rather than giving free rein to those who pay. Musk has it It is said He personally opposed stricter guardrails, and several members of XAI’s already sparse safety team reportedly quit in the run-up to the deluge of digital nudity.

X did not respond EdgeRequest for comment.