Elon Musk's online network X has caused major anger after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate pictures of females by stripping their attire.
Numerous instances have been seen where the technology has been used to digitally undress female subjects to show them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit contexts.
Developer Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm behind Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, other than an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping software. Under a proposed law, anyone who provided such tools would "receive a jail term and substantial fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the potential" of people accessing unlawful material on their services, but did not specify whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some premium functions—which reacts to X users' queries when they mention it in a post.
It is frequently used to provide reactions or further background to other users' comments, but people on X are also capable of modify an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
History of Criticism and Rules
The system has been faulted for enabling users to produce pictures and footage with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in creating sexually explicit 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 intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "showing images of individuals in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "appropriate steps" to "reduce the danger" of users encountering illegal material on their services and to remove it promptly when they become aware of it.
