Elon Musk's online network X has sparked significant anger after individuals employed its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of women by taking off their garments.
Several instances have surfaced where the system has been used to virtually strip female subjects to render them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to insert them in inappropriate scenarios.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm that created Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, aside from an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being introduced to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a proposed law, anyone who distributed such tools would "face a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the risk" of people viewing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some additional functions—which responds to X users' requests when they mention it in a post.
It is commonly used to give reactions or more context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to edit an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The system has been condemned for allowing users to produce images and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in generating graphic material of public figures.
"The platform has been enabling the creation and spread of these images for months without taking any action and we have not seen any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "portraying images of individuals in a graphic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or circulate deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "necessary steps" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing illegal material on their services and to delete it promptly when they learn of it.
