Elon Musk's online network X has provoked major backlash after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate pictures of women by taking off their clothing.
Several instances have surfaced where the system has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to render them in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit situations.
Developer Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, remained silent to inquiries, other than an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being introduced to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the potential" of people viewing illegal content on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some paid-for functions—which reacts to X users' queries when they tag it in a message.
It is often used to give commentary or further context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also can modify an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The chatbot has been condemned for allowing users to generate pictures and videos with nudity and sexualised content, and it was in the past accused of generating inappropriate content of public figures.
"X has been enabling the production and spread of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any intervention by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "showing likenesses of persons in a sexually explicit way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or share private pictures or illegal content" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "necessary measures" to "minimize the danger" of users coming across unlawful content on their platforms and to remove it swiftly when they become aware of it.
