Elon Musk's social media network X has provoked major backlash after users used its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of females by taking off their garments.
Numerous instances have been seen where the technology has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to show them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, other than an automatically-generated message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that legislation is being brought forward to ban image stripping software. Under a new law, anyone who provided such tools would "receive a prison sentence and heavy fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the danger" of people accessing illegal content on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some paid-for functions—which reacts to X users' queries when they reference it in a tweet.
It is often used to offer reactions or more background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can edit an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been criticised for allowing users to generate images and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in making inappropriate content of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the production and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have yet to see any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "showing likenesses of people in a graphic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and stated this included explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said services such as X were mandated to take "necessary measures" to "lessen the risk" of users coming across illegal content on their platforms and to take down it promptly when they learn of it.
