Elon Musk's social media network X has sparked widespread backlash after people utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of females by removing their clothing.
Multiple cases have been seen where the system has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to render them in bikinis without permission, as well as to put them in sexually explicit contexts.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the firm that created Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, other than an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being proposed to outlaw image stripping software. Under a new law, anyone who supplied such tools would "receive a prison sentence and heavy fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "consider the risk" of people accessing unlawful material on their networks, but did not specify whether it was presently examining X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some additional features—which answers X users' queries when they mention it in a post.
It is often used to provide commentary or additional background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to alter an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been faulted for enabling users to generate photos and footage with nudity and sexualised material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in generating sexually explicit material of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the generation and distribution of these images for months without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "portraying likenesses of persons in a pornographic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or circulate deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and stated this covered explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "suitable actions" to "lessen the risk" of users viewing illegal material on their platforms and to remove it swiftly when they learn of it.
