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Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok is preventing most users from generating or editing any images after a global backlash that erupted after it started spewing sexualized deepfakes of people.The chatbot, which is accessed through Musk’s social media platform X, has in the past few weeks been granting a wave of what researchers say are malicious user requests to modify images, including putting women in bikinis or in sexually explicit positions.Researchers have warned that in a few cases, some images appeared to depict children. Governments around the world have condemned the platform and opened investigations into the platform.On Friday, Grok was responding to image altering requests with the message: “Image generation and editing are currently limited to paying subscribers. You can subscribe to unlock these features.”While subscriber numbers for Grok aren’t publicly available, there was a noticeable decline in the number of explicit deepfakes that Grok is now generating compared with days earlier.The European Union has slammed Grok for “illegal” and “appalling” behavior, while officials in France, India, Malaysia and a Brazilian lawmaker have called for investigations.On Thursday, Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer threatened unspecified action against X.“This is disgraceful. It’s disgusting. And it’s not to be tolerated,” Starmer said on Greatest Hits radio. “X has got to get a grip of this.”He said media regulator Ofcom “has our full support to take action” and that “all options” are on the table.“It’s disgusting. X need to get their act together and get this material down. We will take action on this because it’s simply not tolerable.”Ofcom and Britain’s privacy regulator both said this week they’ve contacted X and Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI for information on measures they’ve taken to comply with British regulations.Grok is free to use for X users, who can ask it questions on the social media platform. They can either tag it in posts they’ve directly created or in replies to posts from other users.Grok launched in 2023. Last summer the company added an image generator feature, Grok Imagine, that included a so-called “spicy mode” that can generate adult content.The problem is amplified both because Musk pitches his chatbot as an edgier alternative to rivals with more safeguards, and because Grok’s images are publicly visible, and can therefore be easily spread. Kelvin Chan, AP Business Writer
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Groks digital undressing scandal is horrifying. In recent days, countless women, including the mother of one of Elon Musks children, have found AI-generated and nonconsensual sexual images of themselves propagating across the web. According to one analysis, Grok was, at least as of early January, generating thousands of sexually suggestive, or undressed, images of people per hour. (Elon Musk now says that image generation will only be available to paid users.)Investigators from several countries have launched inquiries to investigate whether xAI had run afoul of the law, including rules about pornographic deepfakes and child sexual abuse material. Of course, none of these governments are as entangled with xAI, or Elon Musk, as the U.S. right now. The Defense Department offered the company a $200 million contract for Grok last year. Now, a Pentagon official tells Fast Company that the agency’s policy on the use of artificial intelligence fully complies with all applicable laws and regulations, adding that personnel are mandated to uphold these standards, and any unlawful activity will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action.” The Trump administration has also signed a range of deals with xAI to offer its Grok chatbot to federal workers for office use. The White House didnt respond to a request for comment. Nor did Carahsoft, a federal government contractor that has signed on to facilitate sales of xAI’s Grok for Government product suite. The General Services Administration, a wonky but critical federal agency thats organized several major government deals for AI companies, including xAI, appears to be punting the issue. The agency tells Fast Company that Grok was still undergoing its own internal safety testing in advance of its integration into USAi, a massive AI platform for the U.S. government that already includes technology from companies like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic. But its unclear how involved, or active, these tests actually are. Its been months since these evaluations were first discussed, and the agency hasnt released any update on how Grok has performed. Fast Company has filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act for any publicly available records pertaining to the results of those evaluations but has not received a response. Grok for Government and xAI are currently undergoing GSAs required internal safety assessments prior to potential integration into USAi.gov, Marianne Copenhaver, a spokesperson for the agency, tells Fast Company. Any federal agency that decides to buy Grok through the larger xAI government deal it already helped negotiate for the company is responsible for evaluating the models they choose to use, she adds. Copenhaver did not address whether the agency was studying Grok’s new penchant for producing Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM). Liability In the U.S., its possible that xAI could face legal problems. Using AI to undress minors, for instance, may already fall under existing criminal statutes. In addition, the Take It Down Act, a bipartisan bill crafted by Sens. Ted Cruz and Amy Klobuchar and signed by Donald Trump last year, requires platforms to remove nonconsensual AI sexual imagery within two days of being notified. Deploying Grok within the U.S. federal government could be a major liability, several experts tell Fast Company. If agencies are using xAI, officials will eventually have to demand extra guardrails to make Grok usable with the government, which would be difficult to do with xAI ultimately retaining some data about government systems, one former White House official says.In Groks current form, federal workers could, in theory, create CSAMan alarming possibility, says David Nesting, a former AI adviser to the federal chief information officer. If agencies are not monitoring and filtering uses of generative AI in the workplace, this seems like a gap. Mike Horton, the former chief AI officer of the Transportation Department, says Groks CSAM issue is the inevitable result of a Wild West culture in Silicon Valley and the federal government to move fast and break things. Guardrails are necessary, he says, to avoid situations like this from occurring in the first place. Unbridled AI acceleration with no guardrails is like driving a Maserati at 120 mph with no brakes. You can reliably and safely drive that fast because of the brakes, not in spite of them, he says.
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E-Commerce
A viral crowd-funding campaign that has raised over $1.4 million and counting for Renee Good has been verified authentic, a spokesperson for GoFundMe told Fast Company. On Wednesday, January 7, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fatally shot Good in Minneapolis. The 37-year-old woman was killed while turning her vehicle away from the officeras multiple videos clearly show, despite the federal governments claim to the contrary. Immediately in the wake of Goods death, a GoFundMe campaign for her wife, Becca, and six-year-old son appeared online and far surpassed its $50,000 goal with hundreds of thousands of donations. (Good also had two older children from her first marriage, according to media reports.) GoFundMe initially told Fast Company that it would hold the funds while it worked to verify the campaign. By that point it had, already raised close to half a million dollars. “Tidal wave of care” One of the campaigns co-organizers is listed as Becka Tilson, who is identified as a friend of the family. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We are here brokenhearted and in awe of your generosity, Tilson wrote in an update on Thursday. We will be adding Becca, Renees partner as a beneficiary as soon as possible. They will have direct access to all of these funds. Thank you again for your compassion. They feel this tidal wave of care and it really matters. Some of Goods GoFundMe contributors used the words of support section to applaud her and deliver scathing takedowns of the Trump administration and its supporters. We all know the truth we saw with our own eyes. This should not have happened, wrote one donor. Another contributor wrote, When an unarmed mother can be murdered by a masked mercenary in the streets of the United States, do you feel free? Comments came from across the world and political parties: A real conservative would support your constitutional right to protest peacefully and condemn your murder, despite political views. A real conservative would never celebrate your death. Rest In Peace. The Trump administrations false narrative Under Secretary Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has claimed that Good used her vehicle as a weapon against ICE officers in an act of domestic terrorism. President Trump has also peddled this narrative, claiming in an interview with The New York Times that Good ran over the officer with her car. A series of news outlets with forensic teams have concluded that the DHS and Trump variation of events are simply false. Videos from multiple angles show Good turning her car away from the officer, not onto him. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey didnt mince words in his response to the shooting, ICE Get the f*** out of Minneapolis. We do not want you here. Your stated purpose for being in this City is to create some kind of safety, but you are doing exactly the opposite. Another ICE shooting on Thursday On Thursday, an ICE officer shot a married couple in Portlandclaiming that they, too, had weaponized their vehicle against the agents. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin further claimed that the couple were involved in the vicious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. Oregon attorney general Dan Rayfield has opened an investigation into the shooting. Portland Mayor Keith Wilson also called for ICE to leave the city and shed doubt on the U.S. governments version of events: We know what the federal government says happened here. There was a time when we could take them at their word. That time has long passed.
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