Elon Musk's social media platform X has caused widespread outrage after people used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate pictures of females by stripping their clothing.
Multiple cases have surfaced where the tool has been used to digitally undress female subjects to make them appear in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the organization behind Grok, remained silent to questions, aside from an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being brought forward to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a proposed law, anyone who provided such tools would "face a jail term and substantial fines".
"The platform could prevent these forms of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some paid-for features—which responds to X users' requests when they reference it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to give reactions or further background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an posted image through its AI image editing function.
History of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been faulted for permitting users to create pictures and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating inappropriate content of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the creation and distribution of these pictures for a long time without taking any steps and we have not seen any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "portraying images of persons in a graphic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or distribute deepfakes or illegal content" and clarified this covered explicit AI images made with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "necessary measures" to "minimize the risk" of users encountering illegal material on their services and to remove it swiftly when they learn of it.
