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Amid mounting pressure in Europe and abroad, Elon Musk’s social media platform has announced that it is implementing “technological measures to prevent its AI tool, Grok, from allowing the editing of images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis”, a restriction that will apply to all users, including paid subscribers.
Grok’s image editing function had been used by some users to virtually undress pictures of real women and underage girls. The situation, described as “appalling” and “disgusting” by the European Commission, prompted the EU executive to launch a request for information and a document retention order addressed to X.
Speaking through one of its spokespersons, the European Commission said it had taken note of the changes to Grok’s functionality, but warned that it would remain vigilant.
“We will carefully assess these changes to make sure they effectively protect citizens in the EU,” the spokesperson said, adding that “should these changes not be effective, the Commission will not hesitate to use the full enforcement toolbox of the Digital Services Act.”
If found guilty of breaching EU online platform rules under the Digital Services Act, the Commission could fine X as much as 6% of its global annual turnover.
Last month, the European Commission already fined Elon Musk’s social network €120 million over its account verification tick marks and advertising practices.
Investigations into the platform chatbot are currently ongoing in France, the United Kingdom and Germany, as well as in Australia. Grok has been banned altogether in Indonesia and Malaysia.
