Elon Musk's online platform X has caused widespread outrage after individuals employed its AI chatbot Grok to alter pictures of women by removing their clothing.
Numerous examples have been seen where the tool has been used to virtually strip women to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to insert them in inappropriate situations.
Company Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, except for an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a proposed law, anyone who provided such technology would "face a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these forms of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the danger" of people accessing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some premium features—which answers X users' queries when they tag it in a message.
It is commonly used to provide reactions or more background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to edit an uploaded picture through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The system has been criticised for permitting users to produce images and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making graphic material of public figures.
"The platform has been enabling the generation and sharing of these images for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "depicting images of persons in a graphic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or share deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this included explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "appropriate measures" to "lessen the risk" of users viewing unlawful material on their services and to remove it swiftly when they are notified of it.
