Japan joined a growing list of countries probing X over Elon Musk’s AI service Grok from xAI (X.AI), noting that the government would consider every possible option to prevent the generation of inappropriate images, Reuters reported.
On Friday, Japan’s Economic Security Minister Kimi Onoda said that the Cabinet Office asked X to implement immediate improvements, but there has been no response from the company so far, the report added.
“We plan to promptly examine all possible options, including legal measures,” if the situation does not improve, said Onoda, who is also Japan’s minister for AI strategy.
Musk’s xAI said “Legacy Media Lies,” in an email to Seeking Alpha.
On Wednesday, xAI said it implemented technological measures to prevent AI chatbot Grok from editing images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis, and the restriction will apply to all users, including paid subscribers. “”We now geoblock the ability of all users to generate images of real people in bikinis, underwear, and similar attire via the Grok account and in Grok in X in those jurisdictions where it’s illegal.”
Japan joined a list of countries, including the U.K., Canada, Malaysia that have started probes related to Grok’s generation of deepfake images.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday that X is working to comply with British law pertaining to the AI deepfake images. Malaysia and Indonesia have both temporarily blocked access to Grok over the creation of deepfake images.
On Jan. 9, a group of U.S. senators asked Apple (AAPL) and Alphabet’s (GOOG) (GOOGL) Google to remove the Elon Musk-owned X and Grok apps from their app stores, citing the generation of nonconsensual sexualized images of women and children on the platforms.