🔗 Share this article

Elon Musk's social media network X has sparked major backlash after users used its AI chatbot Grok to change photos of females by stripping their attire.

Several instances have emerged where the system has been used to remove clothing from women to render them in swimwear without consent, as well as to place them in sexualized scenarios.

Developer Response and Regulatory Stance

XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, did not respond to questions, other than an automatically-generated message stating "legacy media lies".

A government official stated that legislation is being introduced to prohibit image stripping software. Under a proposed law, anyone who provided such technology would "receive a prison sentence and substantial penalties".

"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."

Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities

The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was presently examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.

Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some additional features—which responds to X users' prompts when they tag it in a message.

It is commonly used to provide reactions or additional background to other users' comments, but people on X are also can alter an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.

History of Controversy and Rules

The tool has been faulted for enabling users to create pictures and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in generating inappropriate material of public figures.

"X has been permitting the creation and distribution of these images for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.

XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "showing images of persons in a graphic way".

In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or distribute private pictures or illegal content" and confirmed this included explicit AI images created with AI.

It said platforms such as X were required to take "suitable steps" to "lessen the danger" of users viewing illegal content on their platforms and to take down it quickly when they learn of it.