Elon Musk's social media network X has provoked widespread outrage after individuals employed its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of women by removing their garments.
Several cases have surfaced where the system has been used to digitally undress female subjects to make them appear in swimwear without consent, as well as to place them in sexualized scenarios.
Company Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization that created Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, except for an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that legislation is being introduced to prohibit image stripping software. Under a upcoming law, anyone who provided such tools would "be subject to a jail term and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "consider the danger" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some additional functions—which reacts to X users' prompts when they mention it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to offer reactions or more background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of alter an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The chatbot has been criticised for allowing users to produce images and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier accused of creating inappropriate material of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the production and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have yet to see any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "portraying likenesses of individuals in a pornographic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or share private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and stated this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "necessary measures" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing unlawful material on their platforms and to take down it quickly when they become aware of it.
