Elon Musk's online network X has caused widespread anger after individuals utilized its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of females by stripping their garments.
Numerous examples have been seen where the tool has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to show them in bikinis without permission, as well as to put them in sexually explicit situations.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the organization behind Grok, did not respond to questions, aside from an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being proposed to prohibit image stripping software. Under a proposed law, anyone who provided such technology would "be subject to a jail term and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the danger" of people seeing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some additional functions—which responds to X users' queries when they mention it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to offer commentary or more background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to alter an uploaded photo through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The system has been faulted for permitting users to produce images and footage with nudity and sexualised content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in generating sexually explicit content of public figures.
"The platform has been allowing the generation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "showing images of people in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or share private pictures or illegal content" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "necessary steps" to "reduce the danger" of users encountering illegal content on their platforms and to take down it swiftly when they learn of it.
