Elon Musk's online network X has caused widespread backlash after individuals utilized its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate pictures of females by taking off their clothing.
Several instances have been seen where the system has been employed to digitally undress women to show them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to put them in sexualized situations.
Company Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm that created Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, except for an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being introduced to outlaw image stripping software. Under a upcoming law, anyone who distributed such tools would "receive a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of misuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Stance and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "consider the danger" of people viewing unlawful material on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some premium functions—which answers X users' prompts when they mention it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to offer commentary or more background to other users' comments, but people on X are also capable of alter an uploaded photo through its AI image editing tool.
History of Controversy and Policy
The chatbot has been faulted for permitting users to create images and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously accused of generating sexually explicit material of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the production and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have yet to see any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "depicting likenesses of individuals in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or share non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "appropriate actions" to "lessen the danger" of users viewing illegal content on their platforms and to remove it quickly when they become aware of it.
