Elon Musk's online network X has provoked widespread backlash after people employed its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of females by removing their clothing.
Several instances have been seen where the tool has been used to digitally undress female subjects to render them in bikinis without consent, as well as to insert them in sexualized contexts.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, except for an automatically-generated message stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being proposed to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "face a prison sentence and heavy fines".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some paid-for functions—which responds to X users' queries when they reference it in a tweet.
It is often used to offer reactions or further background to other users' comments, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been criticised for permitting users to generate pictures and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier accused of making sexually explicit content of celebrities.
"X has been allowing the creation and sharing of these images for months without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "showing likenesses of people in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or circulate private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this included explicit AI images created with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "necessary steps" to "lessen the danger" of users coming across unlawful material on their platforms and to delete it promptly when they become aware of it.
