Elon Musk's online network X has sparked significant anger after individuals employed its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of women by removing their garments.
Several examples have been seen where the tool has been used to digitally undress women to show them in swimwear without permission, as well as to place them in sexualized scenarios.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, did not respond to questions, except for an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office official stated that legislation is being proposed to prohibit image stripping software. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the potential" of people accessing unlawful material on their networks, but did not specify whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some paid-for features—which responds to X users' queries when they reference it in a message.
It is frequently used to offer reactions or further background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of alter an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The system has been criticised for permitting users to generate photos and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating graphic material of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and distribution of these images for months without taking any action and we have yet to see any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "depicting likenesses of persons in a pornographic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or distribute private pictures or illegal content" and confirmed this included explicit AI images created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "suitable measures" to "lessen the danger" of users encountering unlawful content on their platforms and to remove it swiftly when they become aware of it.
