Elon Musk's online network X has caused widespread backlash after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate images of females by removing their garments.
Several instances have emerged where the tool has been employed to remove clothing from women to make them appear in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to put them in inappropriate situations.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm behind Grok, did not respond to inquiries, other than an automatically-generated message stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being brought forward to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate 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 no-cost chatbot—with some additional functions—which answers X users' queries when they mention it in a post.
It is frequently used to offer reactions or additional background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of modify an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
History of Criticism and Policy
The chatbot has been faulted for enabling users to generate pictures and footage with nudity and sexualised content, and it was in the past accused of making graphic material of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and spread of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have yet to see any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "depicting images of persons in a graphic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or share deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "necessary steps" to "reduce the risk" of users viewing illegal content on their services and to remove it promptly when they become aware of it.
