Elon Musk's Grok AI Modifies Photographs of Women to Virtually Remove Their Clothes

The social media network X has caused widespread anger after people employed its AI chatbot Grok to change photos of females by taking off their garments.

Multiple instances have surfaced where the tool has been used to remove clothing from women to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to insert them in inappropriate contexts.

Company Response and Regulatory Position

XAI, the firm that created Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, except for an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".

A government representative stated that new laws is being introduced to ban image stripping technology. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "be subject to a jail term and substantial fines".

"The platform is capable of halting these types of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."

Oversight Body Position and Platform Functionality

The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the risk" of people viewing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.

Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some paid-for features—which reacts to X users' queries when they reference it in a tweet.

It is often used to offer reactions or more background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also can alter an posted picture through its AI image editing function.

Background of Criticism and Rules

The tool has been condemned for permitting users to create images and clips with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in creating inappropriate material of celebrities.

"X has been allowing the creation and spread of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.

XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "showing likenesses of people in a sexually explicit fashion".

In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or circulate private pictures or illegal content" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.

It said networks such as X were mandated to take "necessary actions" to "reduce the risk" of users encountering unlawful material on their platforms and to delete it swiftly when they learn of it.