PROVO, Utah (AP) — Richie Saunders scored a career-high 31 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead No. 9 BYU to a 104-76 victory over Arizona State on Wednesday night.
Saunders, who averaged 28 points in two wins over the Sun Devils last season, went 10 of 13 from the field and made six 3-pointers. AJ Dybantsa added 23 points, seven boards and five assists to help the Cougars (14-1, 2-0 Big 12) win their 11th straight game. Robert Wright III had 27 points.
BYU outscored Arizona State 31-16 in fast-break points and blocked 10 shots.
Anthony Johnson scored 24 points while Massamba Diop had 22 points and nine rebounds to pace the Sun Devils (9-6, 0-2), who dropped their fourth game in a row.
The Cougars wasted no time imposing their will on both ends of the court.
Dybantsa scored on three straight possessions to punctuate a 13-0 run and put BYU up 16-6. Arizona State missed nine consecutive shots during that stretch. Back-to-back baskets from Diop and Maurice Odum finally ended the drought.
The Sun Devils struggled to find offense again later in the half, missing six straight shots and committing four turnovers during a four-minute span. BYU rebuilt a double-digit cushion and extended its lead to 37-23 on Dybantsa’s layup with 5:08 left before halftime.
Arizona State shot just 27.5% from the field (11 of 40) in the first half.
The Cougars scored on their first four second-half possessions and went on a 20-5 run to extend their lead to 70-40 with 11:42 left. Saunders led the charge, scoring three baskets and hitting a pair of free throws over a 2 1/2-minute stretch.
Arizona State hosts Kansas State on Saturday.
BYU visits Utah on Saturday.
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BYU forward AJ Dybantsa reacts after a play against Arizona State during the first half of an NCAA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Provo, Utah. (AP Photo/Rob Gray)
LONDON (AP) — Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok is preventing non-paying users from generating or editing images after a global backlash erupted over sexualized deepfakes of people, but the change has not satisfied authorities in Europe.
The chatbot, which is accessed through Musk's social media platform X, has in the past few weeks been granting a wave of what researchers say are malicious user requests to modify images, including putting women in bikinis or in sexually explicit positions.
Researchers have warned that in a few cases, some images appeared to depict children. Governments around the world have condemned the platform and opened investigations.
On Friday, Grok responded to image altering requests with the message: “Image generation and editing are currently limited to paying subscribers. You can subscribe to unlock these features.”
While subscriber numbers for Grok aren't publicly available, there was a noticeable decline Friday in the number of explicit deepfakes that Grok is now generating compared with just days earlier.
Grok was still granting image requests but only from X users with blue checkmarks given to premium subscriber who pay $8 a month for features including higher usage limits for the chatbot.
An X spokesperson didn't respond immediately to a request for comment.
The restrictions for users save for paying subscribers did not appear to change the opinions of leaders or regulators in Europe.
“This doesn't change our fundamental issue. Paid subscription or non-paid subscription, we don't want to see such images. It's as simple as that,” said Thomas Regnier, a spokesman for the European Union's executive Commission. The Commission had earlier slammed Grok for “illegal” and “appalling” behavior.
The British government was also unsatisfied.
Grok’s changes are “not a solution," said Geraint Ellis, a spokesman for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who on Thursday had threatened unspecified action against X.
“In fact, it is insulting to the victims of misogyny and sexual violence,” he said, noting that it shows that X “can move swiftly when it wants to do so.”
“We expect rapid action,” he said, adding that “all options are on the table.”
Starmer, speaking to Greatest Hits radio, had said that X needs to "get their act together and get this material down. We will take action on this because it’s simply not tolerable.”
The U.K.'s media and privacy regulators both said this week they’ve contacted X and Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI for information on measures taken to comply with British regulations.
France, Malaysia and India have also been scrutinizing the platform and a Brazilian lawmaker has called for an investigation. The European Commission has ordered X to retain all internal documents and data relating to Grok until the end of 2026, as part of a wider investigation under the EU’s digital safety law.
Grok is free to use for X users, who can ask it questions on the social media platform. They can either tag it in posts they've directly created or in replies to posts from other users.
Grok launched in 2023. Last summer the company added an image generator feature, Grok Imagine, that included a so-called “spicy mode” that can generate adult content.
The problem is amplified both because Musk pitches his chatbot as an edgier alternative to rivals with more safeguards, and because Grok’s images are publicly visible, and can therefore be easily spread.
AP writers Jill Lawless in London and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.
FILE - Workers install lighting on an "X" sign atop the company headquarters, formerly known as Twitter, in downtown San Francisco, July 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)
