Elon Musk's online network X has sparked significant backlash after individuals utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter pictures of females by stripping their attire.
Multiple cases have surfaced where the tool has been used to remove clothing from women to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to put them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization behind Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, aside from an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being introduced to outlaw image stripping technology. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Stance and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the danger" of people accessing illegal content on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some premium features—which responds to X users' queries when they reference it in a tweet.
It is often used to give reactions or further background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an posted photo through its AI image editing function.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The chatbot has been faulted for permitting users to generate photos and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously accused of creating graphic material of public figures.
"X has been enabling the production and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have yet to see any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "showing images of persons in a graphic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or share non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "appropriate measures" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing unlawful content on their platforms and to take down it quickly when they learn of it.
