Elon Musk's online network X has sparked significant anger after users used its AI chatbot Grok to change images of women by stripping their clothing.
Numerous cases have surfaced where the tool has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to render them in swimwear without consent, as well as to place them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm behind Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, except for an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping software. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a jail term and heavy fines".
"The platform 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 Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the risk" of people seeing illegal content on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some premium functions—which answers X users' requests when they tag it in a post.
It is frequently used to give reactions or more context to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to alter an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been criticised for allowing users to generate photos and clips with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in creating inappropriate material of public figures.
"The platform has been allowing the generation and spread of these images for a long time without taking any action and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "portraying likenesses of individuals in a pornographic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or circulate private pictures or illegal content" and stated this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "suitable measures" to "lessen the risk" of users coming across illegal material on their services and to remove it quickly when they become aware of it.
