Elon Musk's online platform X has caused major outrage after users used its AI chatbot Grok to change photos of females by stripping their attire.
Numerous instances have been seen where the technology has been used to digitally undress women to render them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexually explicit situations.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, except for an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "receive a jail term and substantial fines".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the danger" of people accessing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was currently examining X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some premium functions—which answers X users' prompts when they mention it in a tweet.
It is often used to give commentary or more context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to alter an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
History of Criticism and Policy
The system has been criticised for enabling users to produce photos and clips with nudity and sexualised content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making sexually explicit content of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the creation and spread of these images for months without taking any action and we have not seen any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "showing likenesses of people in a sexually explicit manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or distribute non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and stated this covered explicit AI images created with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "necessary steps" to "lessen the danger" of users encountering unlawful material on their services and to delete it promptly when they are notified of it.
