Elon Musk's social media network X has provoked significant backlash after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of females by stripping their clothing.
Numerous instances have emerged where the tool has been employed to digitally undress women to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to put them in sexualized situations.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, aside from an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping software. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "face a jail term and substantial fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the danger" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some additional features—which answers X users' requests 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 posted photo through its AI image editing feature.
History of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been faulted for allowing users to generate images and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in generating graphic content of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any steps and we have yet to see any intervention by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "showing likenesses of persons in a pornographic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and stated this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "suitable steps" to "lessen the danger" of users viewing illegal content on their platforms and to take down it promptly when they learn of it.
