Elon Musk's social media platform X has sparked widespread backlash after people used its AI chatbot Grok to change images of females by stripping their clothing.
Multiple instances have surfaced where the tool has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to place them in inappropriate scenarios.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company that created Grok, did not respond to inquiries, except for an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office official stated that legislation is being proposed to outlaw image stripping software. Under a new law, anyone who supplied such technology would "be subject to a jail term and significant penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "assess the risk" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some premium features—which answers X users' queries when they tag it in a post.
It is often used to provide reactions or additional context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of modify an uploaded picture through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The system has been criticised for permitting users to generate images and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in generating inappropriate material of public figures.
"The platform has been allowing the production and sharing of these pictures for a long time without taking any steps and we have not seen any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "showing images of persons in a sexually explicit way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or share private pictures or illegal content" and stated this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "suitable measures" to "lessen the danger" of users coming across unlawful material on their services and to remove it quickly when they learn of it.
