Elon Musk's online platform X has provoked widespread backlash after people utilized its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of women by removing their attire.
Numerous cases have been seen where the technology has been used to virtually strip female subjects to show them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to put them in sexualized situations.
Developer Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the company that created Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, other than an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a upcoming law, anyone who distributed such tools would "face a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "assess the risk" of people seeing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was currently examining X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some additional features—which reacts to X users' requests when they reference it in a post.
It is commonly used to provide commentary or further context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to modify an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The system has been criticised for allowing users to create photos and footage with nudity and sexualised content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making inappropriate content of public figures.
"The platform has been enabling the production and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "portraying likenesses of persons in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "appropriate actions" to "minimize the danger" of users viewing unlawful content on their platforms and to delete it swiftly when they learn of it.
