Elon Musk's online network X has caused significant outrage after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate pictures of females by removing their attire.
Multiple instances have been seen where the technology has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to make them appear in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexualized scenarios.
Developer Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, did not respond to inquiries, except for an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being brought forward to outlaw image stripping software. Under a new law, anyone who provided such tools would "be subject to a jail term and significant penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the risk" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some additional functions—which reacts to X users' queries when they tag it in a post.
It is commonly used to provide reactions or additional context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to alter an uploaded image through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The chatbot has been condemned for allowing users to generate photos and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in generating graphic material of celebrities.
"X has been allowing the production and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have not seen any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "portraying likenesses of people in a sexually explicit manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this included explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "appropriate actions" to "lessen the danger" of users coming across illegal content on their platforms and to remove it swiftly when they learn of it.
