Elon Musk's online network X has sparked widespread outrage after users used its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of females by removing their garments.
Numerous instances have surfaced where the system has been used to digitally undress female subjects to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to put them in sexualized scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the firm behind Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, except for an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that legislation is being introduced to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "receive a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some additional functions—which responds to X users' prompts when they reference it in a post.
It is commonly used to offer commentary or more context to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to alter an uploaded image through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The system has been condemned for enabling users to produce images and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in generating inappropriate content of celebrities.
"X has been enabling the production and distribution of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have yet to see any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "depicting likenesses of persons in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or circulate deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said services such as X were mandated to take "suitable steps" to "lessen the danger" of users encountering illegal material on their services and to remove it quickly when they learn of it.
