Elon Musk's online network X has sparked widespread anger after people used its AI chatbot Grok to change images of women by taking off their garments.
Multiple cases have emerged where the system has been used to digitally undress women to make them appear in swimwear without consent, as well as to place them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, except for an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being brought forward to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a upcoming law, anyone who distributed such tools would "face a jail term and substantial fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "assess the potential" of people seeing illegal content on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some additional features—which responds to X users' queries when they mention it in a post.
It is commonly used to offer reactions or more background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of modify an uploaded image through its AI image editing function.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The system has been faulted for permitting users to generate pictures and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier accused of making inappropriate content of public figures.
"X has been enabling the production and spread of these images for months without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "portraying likenesses of persons in a pornographic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or share private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this included sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "appropriate steps" to "reduce the risk" of users coming across illegal material on their services and to remove it promptly when they become aware of it.
