The Grok AI Alters Images of Women to Virtually Strip Them

Elon Musk's online platform X has caused widespread anger after users used its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of females by taking off their garments.

Numerous examples have surfaced where the tool has been employed to remove clothing from women to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to put them in sexually explicit situations.

Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position

XAI, the firm that created Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, aside from an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".

A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being brought forward to outlaw nudification software. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "be subject to a prison sentence and significant fines".

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

Regulator Stance and Tool Functionality

The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "consider the danger" of people viewing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was presently examining X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.

Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some additional functions—which responds to X users' queries when they mention it in a post.

It is often used to offer commentary or more background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of alter an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.

Background of Controversy and Policy

The system has been criticised for enabling users to produce photos and footage with nudity and sexualised material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating inappropriate material of celebrities.

"X has been enabling the production and sharing 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 sexually explicit fashion".

In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or share non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and stated this applied to explicit AI images made with AI.

It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "appropriate steps" to "lessen the risk" of users encountering illegal material on their platforms and to take down it swiftly when they become aware of it.