Elon Musk's online platform X has caused significant outrage after people employed its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate pictures of females by taking off their garments.
Multiple instances have emerged where the system has been used to virtually strip women to make them appear in swimwear without permission, as well as to put them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Company Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the organization that created Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, other than an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being introduced to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a proposed law, anyone who provided such technology would "face a jail term and substantial penalties".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the potential" of people seeing unlawful material on their networks, but did not specify whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some additional features—which responds to X users' prompts when they reference it in a message.
It is commonly used to offer commentary or further context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can edit an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
History of Controversy and Policy
The chatbot has been faulted for enabling users to create images and videos with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating inappropriate content of public figures.
"X has been enabling the production and spread of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have not seen any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "showing likenesses of persons in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or circulate private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this covered explicit AI images created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "necessary steps" to "reduce the risk" of users encountering illegal content on their services and to take down it quickly when they are notified of it.
