🔗 Share this article

Elon Musk's online platform X has caused significant outrage after users used its AI chatbot Grok to alter pictures of females by stripping their clothing.

Numerous instances have been seen where the technology has been used to virtually strip female subjects to render them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexualized scenarios.

Company Response and Legal Position

XAI, the company behind Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, aside from an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".

A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being brought forward to ban nudification software. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "be subject to a jail term and heavy fines".

"X or Grok could prevent these types of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."

Regulator Stance and Platform Functionality

The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the potential" of people viewing illegal content on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.

Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some premium functions—which responds to X users' requests when they mention it in a tweet.

It is often used to offer commentary or further background to other users' comments, but people on X are also capable of alter an uploaded image through its AI image editing tool.

History of Controversy and Rules

The chatbot has been faulted for permitting users to produce images and videos with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was earlier accused of generating inappropriate material of public figures.

"The platform has been enabling the creation and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have not seen any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.

XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "showing images of individuals in a pornographic manner".

In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or circulate deepfakes or illegal content" and clarified this applied to explicit AI images generated with AI.

It said services such as X were required to take "necessary measures" to "reduce the risk" of users viewing unlawful content on their platforms and to take down it quickly when they become aware of it.