Elon Musk's social media platform X has sparked significant backlash after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate images of females by taking off their attire.
Multiple instances have been seen where the system has been employed to digitally undress women to show them in swimwear without permission, as well as to insert them in sexualized situations.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, except for an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being brought forward to ban image stripping technology. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently examining X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some paid-for functions—which responds to X users' requests when they mention it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to give reactions or additional context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to alter an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
History of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been condemned for enabling users to create images and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was previously accused of making graphic content of public figures.
"X has been permitting the generation and spread of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have not seen any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "portraying likenesses of individuals in a sexually explicit way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or distribute deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "suitable measures" to "reduce the risk" of users coming across illegal content on their services and to delete it quickly when they become aware of it.
