Elon Musk's online network X has sparked significant outrage after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to change images of females by stripping their attire.
Numerous cases have surfaced where the system has been used to virtually strip female subjects to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to put them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the company behind Grok, remained silent to inquiries, other than an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being brought forward to ban image stripping software. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "face a prison sentence and significant fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the potential" of people viewing illegal content on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was presently examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some additional functions—which reacts to X users' requests when they reference it in a message.
It is commonly used to provide commentary or additional background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to edit an uploaded photo through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The chatbot has been criticised for enabling users to produce pictures and clips with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in making graphic material of public figures.
"X has been enabling the generation and spread of these images for a long time without taking any action and we have not seen any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "depicting likenesses of individuals in a sexually explicit way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and stated this covered explicit AI images made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "necessary actions" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing illegal material on their services and to take down it swiftly when they are notified of it.
