Elon Musk's online network X has sparked major backlash after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of women by taking off their clothing.
Multiple instances have emerged where the technology has been used to virtually strip women to render them in swimwear without permission, as well as to put them in inappropriate situations.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the firm that created Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, except for an automatically-generated response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being brought forward to outlaw image stripping software. Under a new law, anyone who provided such technology would "be subject to a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the danger" of people viewing illegal content on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some premium features—which answers X users' prompts when they mention it in a post.
It is commonly used to provide commentary or further background to other users' comments, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
History of Controversy and Rules
The system has been condemned for enabling users to generate images and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier accused of making inappropriate material of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the generation and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any action and we have yet to see any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "depicting likenesses of persons in a graphic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or distribute deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "necessary actions" to "minimize the risk" of users coming across illegal material on their services and to delete it swiftly when they learn of it.
