Elon Musk's social media platform X has caused major outrage after people utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of females by stripping their attire.
Numerous cases have surfaced where the technology has been used to virtually strip female subjects to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to place them in sexually explicit situations.
Developer Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the company that created Grok, did not respond to inquiries, except for an automatically-generated message stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being introduced to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a upcoming law, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these forms of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Position and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the risk" of people viewing unlawful material on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some paid-for features—which reacts to X users' requests when they tag it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to offer reactions or additional background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also capable of edit an posted picture through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The system has been criticised for enabling users to produce images and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making sexually explicit material of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the production and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have yet to see any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "depicting images of people in a graphic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or share non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "appropriate actions" to "reduce the risk" of users viewing unlawful material on their platforms and to remove it quickly when they become aware of it.
