Elon Musk's social media platform X has caused widespread backlash after users used its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of females by removing their garments.
Numerous instances have emerged where the tool has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to render them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexualized scenarios.
Company Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the organization that created Grok, did not respond to inquiries, other than an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "receive a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"The platform could prevent these types of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the danger" of people accessing illegal content on their services, but did not specify whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some additional features—which answers X users' requests when they reference it in a message.
It is frequently used to give reactions or additional context to other users' comments, but people on X are also can alter an posted picture through its AI image editing tool.
History of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been criticised for permitting users to produce pictures and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in creating sexually explicit material of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and distribution of these pictures for a long time without taking any action and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "depicting likenesses of individuals in a graphic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and stated this covered sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "necessary actions" to "lessen the risk" of users coming across illegal content on their services and to remove it promptly when they are notified of it.
