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By Hadas Gold, CNN

(CNN) — Elon Musk’s Grok artificial intelligence chatbot appears to have new guardrails around image generation, following global outrage after it was found to be complying with user requests to digitally undress images of adults and in some cases children.

Within the last week xAi, which owns both Grok and the social media platform X, restricted image generation for Grok on X to paying X premium subscribers. But according to researchers and CNN’s own observations in recent days, Grok’s X account has modified how it responds in general to user’s image generation requests, even for those subscribed to X premium.

According to researchers at Copyleaks, an AI detection and content governance platform, Grok is no longer responding as often to image requests even from premium users, sometimes describing a scenario rather than creating an image or sometimes fulfilling a request in “a more generic or toned-down way, rather than using the specific subject originally requested,” the group found.

“Overall, these behaviors suggest X is experimenting with multiple mechanisms to reduce or control problematic image generation, though inconsistencies remain,” Copyleaks found.

Researchers at AI Forensics, a European non-profit that investigates algorithms, said that the creation of bikini-like images has seemingly decreased at X, according to a spokesperson for the group.

But the group said they have also observed “inconsistencies in the treatment of pornographic content generation” between public interactions with Grok on X and private chat on Grok.com.

xAI, which did not respond to a request for comment, has previously stated via the company’s Safety account that they “take action against illegal content on X, including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary. Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.”

On Wednesday Musk said in a post on X that he was “not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok. Literally zero.” Grok “will refuse to produce anything illegal, as the operating principle for Grok is to obey the laws of any given country or state,” he added.

However, researchers said that while fully nude images were rare, the biggest issue was Grok complying with user requests to modify images of minors and place them revealing clothing, including bikinis and underwear, as well as in sexually provocative positions. Creators of those types of non-consensual intimate images could still be subject to criminal prosecution of Child Sexual Abuse Material and are potentially subject to fines and prison time under the Take it Down Act, signed last year by President Donald Trump.

On Wednesday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced an investigation into the “proliferation of nonconsensual sexually explicit material produced using Grok.”

Grok is still banned in Indonesia and Malaysia as a result of the image generation controversy. UK regulator Ofcom announced Monday it has launched a Read more

TORO CANYON, Calif. (KEYT) – A shelter-in-place message for an armed person was issued by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office for Toro Canyon Road Wednesday.

Your News Channel was able to confirm residents in the area have received reverse 911 calls telling them to remain inside for a possibly armed suspect.

This is an evolving law enforcement response and more information will be added to this article when it is available.

The post Toro Canyon Road Residents Told To Shelter-In-Place For Possible Armed Suspect In The Area appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

By Kaanita Iyer, Jake Tapper, CNN

(CNN) — Several survivors of Jeffrey Epstein are asking a Justice Department watchdog to review the agency’s release of files related to the late convicted sex offender, saying the files released so far have failed to protect survivors.

In a letter sent to the DOJ’s Office of Inspector General — an independent office — on Wednesday, 19 survivors criticized the agency’s redaction process. They called for the inspector general to review how the redactions were conducted for the files already released and oversee the future release of documents.

While the thousands of files released so far have been heavily redacted, the survivors said in the letter that in some cases, the Justice Department did not conceal names and identifiers.

“In the files released so far, there has been a troubling pattern of selective redactions,” the survivors wrote. “In multiple instances, names of individuals alleged to have participated in or facilitated abuse appear to have been redacted, while identifying details of survivors were left visible. In some cases, survivors’ names, contextual identifiers, or other information sufficient to identify them publicly were not adequately protected.”

They continued: “This disparity is deeply troubling. Any release of records involving sexual exploitation must prioritize the safety, privacy, and dignity of survivors.”

CNN has asked the Office of Inspector General for comment.

The letter comes as the Justice Department faces enormous pressure to release all the files, which it was ordered to do in December as part of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which passed with bipartisan support in Congress and was signed by President Donald Trump after months of resistance on the issue.

Officials at the Justice Department have said they’re acting in good faith to release as much material as fast as possible, while also going through the painstaking work of reviewing every file to make sure victims’ identifies are shielded, as required by the law.

The Justice Department said earlier this month that it has released less than 1% of its Epstein-related files and is reviewing more than two million documents.

“We recognize there are a large number of remaining files that must undergo review,” the survivors said in Wednesday’s letter. “This process should respect the urgency mandated by the legislation, but expediency should not compromise essential safeguards for protecting survivors’ identities.”

Some of the questions the files’ release has raised, according to the survivors, include what standards have been set to govern the redaction process as well as who is conducting a review of the files before they are released and whether survivor advocates and experts have been consulted.

Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna and GOP Rep. Thomas Massie, co-sponsors of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, have raised concerns that the Trump administration may improperly redact many of the files, either by releasing information they shouldn’t have, or blacking out too much.

On Tuesday, Khanna and Massie complained to a federal judge about their “urgent and grave concerns about DOJ’s failure to comply with the Act” and asked for an independent third-party to be brought in to check the Justice Department’s compliance with the act.

The judge — Paul Engelmayer in New York, who oversees the protection of victims of Epstein’s convicted co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell — hasn’t decided yet on the request. The Justice Department is set to re