Elon Musk's online platform X has sparked significant outrage after individuals utilized its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of women by removing their garments.
Numerous instances have emerged where the tool has been used to virtually strip female subjects to render them in bikinis without permission, as well as to put them in sexually explicit contexts.
Company Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, remained silent to questions, aside from an auto-reply message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being proposed to ban image stripping software. Under a proposed law, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a jail term and substantial fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "consider the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some paid-for features—which reacts to X users' requests when they reference it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to give reactions or further background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to edit an posted picture through its AI image editing tool.
History of Controversy and Policy
The chatbot has been criticised for permitting users to generate pictures and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making graphic material of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the production and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any steps and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "showing likenesses of people in a pornographic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or distribute non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and stated this covered sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "appropriate actions" to "reduce the danger" of users encountering unlawful material on their platforms and to remove it promptly when they learn of it.
