🔗 Share this article

Elon Musk's social media network X has provoked significant outrage after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of women by taking off their garments.

Multiple cases have emerged where the technology has been used to virtually strip female subjects to make them appear in swimwear without consent, as well as to place them in inappropriate situations.

Developer Response and Legal Position

XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, remained silent to inquiries, except for an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".

A Home Office official stated that legislation is being introduced to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a upcoming law, anyone who provided such technology would "receive a prison sentence and significant penalties".

"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."

Oversight Body Position and Platform Functionality

The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "assess the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their networks, but did not specify whether it was presently examining X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.

Grok is a free AI assistant—with some additional functions—which answers X users' requests when they mention it in a tweet.

It is often used to offer reactions or additional background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can edit an uploaded picture through its AI image editing feature.

Background of Criticism and Policy

The chatbot has been condemned for enabling users to generate pictures and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier accused of generating sexually explicit content of public figures.

"X has been permitting the generation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.

XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "depicting likenesses of persons in a sexually explicit manner".

In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes created with AI.

It said platforms such as X were required to take "necessary actions" to "reduce the risk" of users coming across illegal content on their platforms and to delete it quickly when they are notified of it.