ISTANBUL

Artificial intelligence chatbot Grok on Friday blocked non-subscribers from generating images, limiting the feature to paying users after backlash over obscene content.

The move came as the AI tool faced growing global scrutiny for allowing users to generate material deemed illegal.

“Image generation and editing are currently limited to paying subscribers. You can subscribe to unlock these features,” Grok said in a statement posted on the US social media company X.

On Wednesday, analysts at the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) said they had identified sexualized images of teenage girls that meet the UK legal definition of child sexual abuse material and appear to have been generated using AI tools, including Grok.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned of possible action against X over the issue.

“This is disgraceful. It’s disgusting. And it’s not to be tolerated,” Starmer said on Greatest Hits radio. “X need to get their act together and get this material down. We will take action on this because it’s simply not tolerable.”

In response, X said it removes illegal content, including child sexual abuse material, suspends offending accounts and cooperates with law enforcement.

Following reports of obscene content involving minors, Indonesia warned that X could be banned, saying preliminary findings suggest Grok lacks adequate safeguards to prevent the creation and spread of pornographic material based on real images.

Earlier this month, Musk warned that anyone using Grok to “make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.”