xAI's Grok Imagine tool offers adult content generation with "Spicy Mode"
xAI launched Grok Imagine, an image and video generation tool that includes a "Spicy Mode" allowing creation of sexually explicit images. The National Center on Sexual Exploitation and other observers raised concerns about access by minors and the feature's contradiction of global regulatory trends.
What happened
On 4 September 2024, xAI launched Grok Imagine, an image and video generation tool for the iOS version of its Grok app. The tool can generate images and 15-second videos from text or image prompts in seconds.
The tool includes a 'Spicy Mode' option that allows generation of partial nudity and sexually explicit images. When exposure level exceeds a certain threshold, the system automatically applies blur or mosaic censoring.
Reported impact
The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) expressed concern that minors can access the character 'Annie' in xAI's AI Companion feature, which depicts a blonde woman in a short dress and fishnets or thin lingerie. NCOSE called on Apple to raise the age restriction for the Grok app to 18.
Some Grok users reportedly created near-naked videos using Grok Imagine and shared them on X and internet communities.
Index analysis
xAI's introduction of adult content generation features contradicts the global trend toward stricter regulation of AI-generated sexual and harmful content in the United States and European Union.
Musk has promoted the new Grok Imagine feature on his X account, posting videos created with the tool. This move has been characterized as using controversy as a marketing strategy while citing free speech principles.
Governance controls
Grok Imagine applies automated blurring to images that exceed exposure thresholds. Spicy Mode is available only to paid Super Grok subscribers at $30 per month.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.