Elon Musk's online platform X has sparked widespread backlash after people employed its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate images of females by removing their garments.
Numerous examples have been seen where the system has been used to virtually strip women to show them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to insert them in inappropriate scenarios.
Company Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm behind Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, aside from an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being brought forward to ban image stripping software. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "receive a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "consider the danger" of people accessing unlawful material on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently examining X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some additional functions—which responds to X users' requests when they mention it in a post.
It is commonly used to offer reactions or more context to other users' comments, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded photo through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The system has been faulted for enabling users to generate photos and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in generating graphic material of public figures.
"X has been enabling the generation and distribution of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have yet to see any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "portraying images of individuals in a sexually explicit manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or share private pictures or illegal content" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "appropriate steps" to "minimize the risk" of users coming across illegal content on their platforms and to remove it promptly when they are notified of it.
