Elon Musk's social media platform X has provoked major outrage after individuals utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter pictures of females by removing their attire.
Multiple examples have surfaced where the system has been used to digitally undress women to make them appear in bikinis without consent, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, did not respond to questions, other than an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being introduced to ban image stripping technology. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "face a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"The platform could prevent these forms of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the potential" of people viewing illegal content on their networks, but did not specify whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some additional features—which responds to X users' queries when they reference it in a post.
It is frequently used to give reactions or additional background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of alter an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
History of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been faulted for permitting users to create pictures and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in creating graphic content of public figures.
"X has been permitting the generation and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any action and we have not seen any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "showing images of people in a graphic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or circulate private pictures or illegal content" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said services such as X were mandated to take "appropriate measures" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing unlawful material on their platforms and to take down it quickly when they become aware of it.
