Elon Musk's online network X has provoked significant backlash after individuals utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter pictures of females by stripping their clothing.
Numerous instances have been seen where the system has been used to remove clothing from women to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in inappropriate scenarios.
Company Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm behind Grok, did not respond to questions, other than an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being introduced to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "receive a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the risk" of people viewing unlawful material on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some paid-for functions—which answers X users' queries when they tag it in a message.
It is commonly used to provide commentary or further background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an uploaded photo through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The system has been condemned for permitting users to produce pictures and clips with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making sexually explicit content of celebrities.
"X has been enabling the creation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any action and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "portraying likenesses of individuals in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or distribute deepfakes or illegal content" and stated this applied to explicit AI images created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "necessary steps" to "minimize the danger" of users viewing unlawful material on their platforms and to take down it swiftly when they learn of it.
