Elon Musk's online network X has caused significant backlash after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate pictures of females by taking off their attire.
Multiple cases have surfaced where the tool has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to make them appear in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexualized scenarios.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm behind Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, other than an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "face a jail term and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "consider the danger" of people accessing illegal content on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some premium features—which responds to X users' prompts when they tag it in a message.
It is commonly used to provide commentary or further context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also capable of edit an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been condemned for allowing users to generate pictures and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in making sexually explicit content of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "depicting images of persons in a pornographic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or distribute private pictures or illegal content" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "necessary measures" to "minimize the danger" of users encountering illegal content on their platforms and to remove it promptly when they become aware of it.
