The response seems to be related to the much maligned «undressing» feature of the bot, supressing use via the @Grok prompt, but letting people use it on the edit-button on all images uploaded to x.com, The Verge reports.
This, in turn, led to hundreds of thousands of nonconsensual bikini photos of women, and sexual poses not intended by the poster.
That caused a vehement response from regulators in Europe and around the world, and Keir Starmer, the British Prime Minister. said «all options should be on the table» — including banning x.com in the U.K., writes The Guardian.
The practical upshot of only letting paying customers use the image feature is that they are registered and traceable if they cross the line.
Read more: First spotted by The Guardian, see also The Independent.