Elon Musk's online platform X has sparked major backlash after users used its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of females by removing their garments.
Numerous examples have emerged where the system has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to place them in inappropriate contexts.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the organization behind Grok, did not respond to questions, aside from an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being introduced to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a new law, anyone who provided such technology would "receive a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "consider the potential" of people seeing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some paid-for features—which responds to X users' requests when they mention it in a tweet.
It is often used to provide commentary or further background to other users' comments, but people on X are also can alter an posted photo through its AI image editing feature.
History of Controversy and Policy
The system has been criticised for enabling users to generate pictures and videos with nudity and sexualised content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in creating graphic material of public figures.
"X has been allowing the generation and spread of these images for months without taking any action and we have not seen any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "showing likenesses of people in a pornographic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or share deepfakes or illegal content" and stated this covered explicit AI images created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "necessary steps" to "lessen the danger" of users viewing illegal material on their platforms and to take down it promptly when they become aware of it.
