No 10 hits out at 'insulting' changes to Musk's Grok chatbot after deepfake warning

Image editing on X's Grok AI tool has been limited to paid subscribers, according to a message displayed by the chatbot - with the changes described as "insulting" by Downing Street.

Users were able to upload a picture and ask Grok to alter the image, but the AI system now replies to requests with this message: "Image generation and editing are currently limited to paying subscribers." It comes after the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) warned criminals used Grok to create child sexual abuse imagery. On Friday, Downing Street said changes to limit the use of chatbot Grok's image editing tool to paying users are "not a solution" but prove the social media platform can move quickly when it wants to.

The prime minister's spokesman said the move "simply turns an AI feature that allows the creation of unlawful images into a premium service". "It's not a solution.

In fact, it's insulting the victims of misogyny and sexual violence," he said. The Liberal Democrats called for regulator Ofcom to immediately block X from operating in the UK and for the National Crime Agency to launch a criminal investigation into the site.

Science and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said Ofcom "should use the full powers of the law that parliament has given it" and if that means blocking X then "they would have the full backing of the government". She said: "I think the images being produced are despicable and abhorrent and sexualizing images of children is one of the worst crimes imaginable.

And I think it is insulting to say that you can still access this service if you pay for it. So Ofcom should use the full powers of the law that Parliament has given it.

"X needs to get a grip and get this material down, and I would remind them that in the Online Safety Act there are backstop powers to block access to services if they refuse to comply with the law for people in the UK. And if Ofcom decides to use those powers, they would have the full backing of the government." Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer previously said Grok being used to create illegal images was "disgraceful" and "disgusting".

He told X to "get their act together" and "get a grip on this". "If another media company had billboards in town centres showing unlawful images, it would act immediately to take them down or face public backlash," his spokesman added.

X and xAI, both owned by billionaire tycoon Elon Musk, have come under fire in recent days after numerous users, mainly women, posted saying they had seen AI-generated sexual images of themselves on X. Ngaire Alexander, head of hotline at the IWF, said on Thursday: "Following reports that the AI chatbot Grok has generated sexual imagery of children, we can confirm our analysts have discovered criminal imagery of children aged between 11 and 13 which appears to have been created using the tool." Regulator Ofcom said it made "urgent contact" with X following these reports, with the prime minister's spokesman saying that "all options" are on the table, including for Ofcom to use its powers to "take any action".

"We urgently made contact on Monday and set a firm deadline of today to explain themselves, to which we have received a response," an Ofcom spokesperson said on Friday. "We're now undertaking an expedited assessment as a matter of urgency and will provide further updates shortly." 'Not good enough' Grok's move to limit the editing of pictures to paid subscribers was "not good enough.