The Artificial Intelligence Chatbot Changes Images of Females to Digitally Undress Them
Elon Musk's social media platform X has sparked major backlash after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of women by removing their garments.
Multiple examples have been seen where the tool has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to make them appear in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexualized scenarios.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company behind Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, aside from an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a proposed law, anyone who distributed such technology would "be subject to a prison sentence and significant fines".
"The platform could prevent these forms of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the danger" of people accessing illegal content on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some premium features—which answers X users' requests when they reference it in a message.
It is frequently used to offer reactions or further context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of edit an posted photo through its AI image editing function.
History of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been criticised for permitting users to create pictures and clips with nudity and sexualised material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in creating inappropriate material of celebrities.
"X has been enabling the creation and distribution of these images for months without taking any action and we have not seen any challenge by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "portraying likenesses of persons in a pornographic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or share private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "suitable measures" to "minimize the risk" of users coming across illegal material on their services and to remove it promptly when they learn of it.
