Elon Musk's online platform X has caused significant anger after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of females by removing their clothing.
Numerous cases have surfaced where the system has been employed to digitally undress women to make them appear in swimwear without permission, as well as to insert them in inappropriate scenarios.
Company Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company that created Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, other than an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a new law, anyone who supplied such technology would "be subject to a jail term and substantial fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "assess the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some additional functions—which answers X users' requests when they reference it in a message.
It is often used to offer reactions or additional background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The system has been condemned for permitting users to produce photos and videos with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating sexually explicit content of public figures.
"The platform has been allowing the generation and distribution of these images for months without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "portraying likenesses of people in a graphic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or share private pictures or illegal content" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "necessary measures" to "reduce the risk" of users encountering illegal material on their platforms and to remove it swiftly when they become aware of it.
