Elon Musk's online network X has caused widespread outrage after people used its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of females by removing their clothing.
Multiple instances have emerged where the tool has been used to virtually strip female subjects to render them in swimwear without consent, as well as to put them in inappropriate situations.
Company Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the company that created Grok, did not respond to inquiries, except for an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being proposed to prohibit image stripping software. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a jail term and heavy fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of misuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the risk" of people seeing illegal content on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently examining X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some premium functions—which responds to X users' queries when they tag it in a post.
It is often used to give reactions or more background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to edit an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The system has been criticised for allowing users to produce pictures and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in creating inappropriate material of public figures.
"X has been permitting the production and sharing of these images for months without taking any action and we have yet to see any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "portraying likenesses of individuals in a sexually explicit manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or share private pictures or illegal content" and stated this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "necessary actions" to "lessen the danger" of users coming across unlawful material on their services and to remove it swiftly when they are notified of it.
