Grok to 'obey law' after AI app used to nudify women and girls

Elon Musk has signalled Grok will comply with Australian laws after receiving backlash that the AI chatbot was being used to nudify women and girls.

The eSafety Commission wrote to X, which platforms Grok, demanding an explanation as to how it is complying with its obligations and preventing misuse after receiving an increase in reports of generated sexualised and exploitative images of real people.

Musk said he was unaware those images were being created, but the platform will obey the laws of the country.

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"When asked to generate images, it will refuse to produce anything illegal, as the operating principle for Grok is to obey the laws of any given country or state," he said.

"There may be times when adversarial hacking of Grok prompts does something unexpected.

"If that happens, we fix the bug immediately."

Musk added that Grok is allowed to generate upper-body nudity of imaginary adults when the NSFW feature is enabled, which he said was the standard in America.

"This will vary in other regions according to the laws on a country by country basis," he said. 

Grok Imagine, an AI image generator that allows users to create photos and videos with text prompts, was first launched in July but issues emerged after it was opened to the public in October.

After a surge of sexualised and exploitative images was generated of real women and children, governments and regulators around the world called for Musk's platform to do more to combat abusive content.

They included the UK, the European Union, France, Poland, India, Malaysia and Brazil.

This week, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said X is acting to ensure full compliance with local law, while the EU Commission confirmed X is banning Grok from generating sexualised images of women and children. 

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The eSafety Commission has not confirmed whether it has received a response from X. 

But the platforms are required to meet safety obligations under the industry codes and standards, which include detecting and removing child sexual exploitation material and other unlawful material. 

The eSafety Commission, earlier this month, said it will use its powers, including removal notices, to take down illegal material.

"eSafety remains concerned about the use of the generative AI system Grok on X to generate content that may sexualise or exploit people, particularly children," the online watchdog said.

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