Elon Musk's online network X has sparked significant outrage after people utilized its AI chatbot Grok to change images of women by stripping their clothing.
Several examples have been seen where the technology has been used to digitally undress women to show them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, did not respond to questions, except for an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being introduced to prohibit image stripping software. Under a new law, anyone who provided such tools would "face a jail term and heavy fines".
"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 Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the danger" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but did not specify whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some additional functions—which reacts to X users' prompts when they mention it in a post.
It is often used to give reactions or more background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to alter an posted image through its AI image editing feature.
History of Controversy and Policy
The chatbot has been faulted for enabling users to create photos and footage with nudity and sexualised material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating graphic material of public figures.
"The platform has been enabling the production and spread of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "showing likenesses of people in a pornographic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and stated this applied to 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 illegal material on their services and to take down it promptly when they are notified of it.
