Elon Musk's online platform X has provoked widespread anger after people utilized its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of women by stripping their garments.
Multiple examples have surfaced where the tool has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to put them in inappropriate contexts.
Company Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the company behind Grok, did not respond to questions, aside from an auto-reply message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being proposed to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a upcoming law, anyone who distributed such technology would "receive a prison sentence and heavy fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the potential" of people seeing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some paid-for functions—which reacts to X users' requests when they mention it in a post.
It is frequently used to provide reactions or more context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also capable of alter an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
History of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been condemned for permitting users to generate photos and footage with nudity and sexualised material, and it was previously accused of making graphic content of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the creation and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "portraying images of people in a sexually explicit manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "suitable steps" to "minimize the risk" of users coming across illegal material on their services and to remove it quickly when they are notified of it.
