X has stopped its AI system for generating images for most of its users – after it was used to generate abusive pictures of women for days.
The Grok system has brought widespread outcry in recent days after it was used to repeatedly generate sexually explicit and violent images.
Users are able to ask the system to make a picture simply by sending it a tweet. That led to a trend in which users send the system an image of a clothed person – occasionally underage – and asked it to undress them, which it did.
It meant that more than half of the images being produced by the system were of people with their clothes digitally removed, according to recent analysis.
The Grok account is now however replying to requests for images with a message indicating that it is only available to some users. “Image generation and editing are currently limited to paying subscribers,” the message reads, and it gives users a link to sign up for the premium version of X, formerly known as Twitter.
