Elon Musk's online network X has provoked major outrage after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to change images of females by taking off their garments.
Several instances have been seen where the tool has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to show them in bikinis without permission, as well as to insert them in inappropriate situations.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm that created Grok, remained silent to questions, other than an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that legislation is being proposed to ban image stripping technology. Under a new law, anyone who provided such technology would "face a jail term and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the potential" of people accessing unlawful material on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some paid-for functions—which responds to X users' prompts when they mention it in a tweet.
It is often used to provide commentary or additional background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of modify an posted image through its AI image editing function.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The chatbot has been condemned for permitting users to generate pictures and clips with nudity and sexualised content, and it was in the past accused of generating inappropriate content of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the generation and spread of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have yet to see any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "showing likenesses of people in a sexually explicit way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or circulate deepfakes or illegal content" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "appropriate measures" to "minimize the danger" of users coming across illegal material on their services and to delete it quickly when they learn of it.
