Elon Musk's online platform X has provoked major outrage after users used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of women by stripping their attire.
Multiple examples have surfaced where the technology has been used to remove clothing from women to render them in bikinis without consent, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit situations.
Company Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the company that created Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, except for an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being introduced to ban image stripping software. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "receive a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"The platform could prevent these types of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the danger" of people accessing unlawful material on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was currently examining X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some paid-for features—which reacts to X users' queries when they mention it in a post.
It is commonly used to offer reactions or further background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also can modify an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The system has been condemned for enabling users to generate images and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously accused of creating inappropriate content of celebrities.
"X has been enabling the generation and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have not seen any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "showing images of persons in a pornographic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or distribute private pictures or illegal content" and clarified this covered explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "necessary actions" to "reduce the danger" of users encountering unlawful material on their platforms and to remove it promptly when they are notified of it.
