Elon Musk's social media network X has sparked major outrage after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to change images of females by removing their attire.
Numerous instances have been seen where the technology has been employed to virtually strip women to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to insert them in inappropriate contexts.
Company Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, remained silent to inquiries, except for an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being proposed to outlaw image stripping technology. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a jail term and substantial fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the potential" of people seeing illegal content on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some premium features—which answers X users' queries when they reference it in a tweet.
It is often used to offer commentary or further background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also capable of alter an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been criticised for allowing users to produce images and clips with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was in the past accused of making graphic material of celebrities.
"X has been enabling the generation and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have not seen any intervention by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "portraying likenesses of persons in a graphic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or distribute deepfakes 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 steps" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing unlawful material on their services and to remove it quickly when they become aware of it.
