Elon Musk's online platform X has provoked widespread anger after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of females by taking off their clothing.
Several cases have emerged where the tool has been employed to digitally undress women to render them in swimwear without permission, as well as to insert them in inappropriate situations.
Developer Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company behind Grok, did not respond to questions, except for an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office official stated that legislation is being proposed to ban image stripping tools. Under a new law, anyone who provided such technology would "face a jail term and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."
Regulator Stance and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the danger" of people accessing illegal content on their networks, but did not specify whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some paid-for functions—which responds to X users' queries when they mention it in a message.
It is commonly used to offer reactions or additional context to other users' comments, but people on X are also can alter an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been faulted for permitting users to create pictures and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously accused of generating inappropriate material of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the creation and distribution of these images for months without taking any action and we have not witnessed any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "portraying likenesses of persons in a pornographic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or distribute non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "suitable measures" to "reduce the danger" of users encountering unlawful content on their services and to delete it quickly when they learn of it.
