Elon Musk's online network X has provoked significant anger after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate pictures of females by stripping their garments.
Multiple examples have surfaced where the tool has been employed to virtually strip women to show them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit situations.
Developer Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the organization behind Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, other than an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being introduced to outlaw image stripping technology. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "receive a jail term and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some paid-for features—which responds to X users' queries when they mention it in a message.
It is frequently used to provide reactions or further context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been faulted for permitting users to generate photos and videos with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in making sexually explicit content of celebrities.
"X has been enabling the production and sharing of these images for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "portraying likenesses of individuals in a pornographic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or distribute non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this included explicit AI images created with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "appropriate steps" to "reduce the risk" of users coming across unlawful content on their platforms and to remove it quickly when they learn of it.
