Elon Musk on Sunday said his artificial intelligence chatbot Grok should have a “moral constitution”, days after his company xAI announced new restrictions following global criticism over the misuse of the tool to generate sexually explicit images.
Grok row
It all started after Grok, which is integrated with X, was widely used to edit photos of real people to make them appear in revealing clothing such as bikinis or underwear. Over the past few weeks, thousands of such images were reportedly shared on X, triggering outrage from governments and the public.
Following the backlash, xAI announced that it has barred Grok from editing images of real individuals in a sexualised manner.
“We take action to remove high-priority violative content, including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) and non-consensual nudity, taking appropriate action against accounts that violate our X Rules. We also report accounts seeking child sexual exploitation material to law enforcement authorities as necessary,” X had said in a post from the company’s Safety account.
(Also Read: Elon Musk's Grok row: Ashley St. Clair sues xAI over explicit deepfake images)
How did countries respond to AI deepfake abuse?
{{/usCountry}}(Also Read: Elon Musk's Grok row: Ashley St. Clair sues xAI over explicit deepfake images)
How did countries respond to AI deepfake abuse?
{{/usCountry}}Several countries have since taken action. The UK and France have opened investigations, while the European Union has launched checks into potential violations. Indonesia has fully blocked Grok, and Malaysia has restricted access, according to an ANI report. In India, the IT ministry has written to X seeking details on steps being taken to curb obscene AI-generated content.
What did Musk say?
Amid the backlash, Musk tweeted, “Grok should have a moral constitution.”
Musk’s remark quickly drew mixed reactions online.
One user wrote, “While technology is designed to serve humanity some individuals exploit it for harm. This requires building safeguards into machines that recognize and reject common misuse patterns. Yet this creates an ongoing challenge clever individuals continuously find new ways to bypass protections. Simple rule based filtering isn't enough we need systems that can understand context and detect intent discerning not just what is being asked but why. Whether in AI or robotics this capacity for pattern recognition and intent detection may be the foundation for genuine moral reasoning in machines. Perhaps this is where developing a moral constitution for AI becomes essential not as rigid rules but as an adaptive framework for ethical judgment.”
Another commented that strong ethical boundaries are especially crucial for AI systems accessible to children, while a third questioned who would ultimately define such moral standards.
When one user asked Grok directly if it should have a moral constitution, the chatbot replied, “A moral constitution could provide clear ethical guidelines for AI like me, ensuring responses are helpful, truthful, and balanced.” It also invited suggestions on what principles it should include.
Meanwhile, Musk defended Grok earlier, saying the chatbot merely responds to user prompts and is designed to refuse illegal content. He claimed he was “not aware” of any nude images of underage children being generated by the tool.