23:29 14-01-2026

X puts Grok image tools behind a paywall after backlash

Generated by DALL·E

X restricts Grok's image generation and editing to paid subscribers after abuse and regulator pressure. What changed, why it happened, and what it means next.

X has changed how people can access one of Grok’s most talked‑about features—the built‑in tools for generating and editing images. From now on, only paying X subscribers can create and modify pictures through the chatbot.

What exactly changed

In messages to users, Grok said that image generation and editing on the X platform are available only to paid subscribers.

The restriction applies specifically to X: in the Grok app, at the time of publication, images could still be created without a subscription.

Why X took this step

The feature initially worked in an open-to-all mode with daily limits. Users could upload someone else’s photo and ask Grok to edit it—including creating sexualized or nude versions. That led to a flood of nonconsensual images, among them sexualized depictions of children, as well as materials featuring actors, models, and public figures.

This content sparked international outrage, with several countries publicly criticizing X and Grok for lacking adequate safeguards.

Musk’s response and X’s stance

X and Elon Musk publicly condemned the use of the tool to create such images and said the platform would follow rules that ban illegal content. Musk also indicated that creating illegal materials via Grok would bring the same consequences as uploading illegal content to the platform.

Pressure from regulators

As the scandal escalated, regulators in several jurisdictions stepped in:

• The United Kingdom, the European Union, and India publicly criticized X and Grok for enabling such use cases.
• On January 8, the European Union asked xAI to preserve all documentation related to the chatbot.
• India’s Ministry of Communications last week demanded urgent changes from X to stop abuses of the image-generation feature, warning the platform could lose safe-harbor protections in the country.
• The UK communications regulator also said it is in contact with xAI about the issue.

Limiting Grok’s image generation and editing to paying subscribers reads like an emergency response to a reputational and regulatory hit—less an attempt to improve the product than a way to quickly shrink abuse and signal that X has control of the situation. Moving the feature behind a paywall raises the barrier to entry and dampens the spread of questionable content, but it does not solve the core problem: the tool has already shown it can be bent to unlawful use.