Elon Musk's social media platform X has provoked major outrage after people employed its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate images of women by stripping their garments.
Multiple instances have surfaced where the technology has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to show them in bikinis without permission, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit situations.
Company Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, did not respond to questions, aside from an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being brought forward to outlaw image stripping software. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some paid-for functions—which responds to X users' requests when they reference it in a message.
It is frequently used to provide commentary or further background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can edit an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The chatbot has been faulted for enabling users to produce photos and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in creating sexually explicit material of public figures.
"X has been allowing the creation and distribution of these images for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any challenge by regulators," the expert 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 "generate or distribute non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and stated this included explicit AI images made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "appropriate measures" to "minimize the risk" of users coming across unlawful material on their platforms and to remove it quickly when they are notified of it.
