In the UK, an investigation is underway into the behavior of the chat bot Grok, created by Elon Musk, which "undresses" real people.

In its statement, Ofcom emphasizes that the chatbot is used to create and distribute images of people without their consent, as well as to generate "sexualized images of children."

If it is determined that the law has been violated, Ofcom may impose a fine on X of up to 10% of its global turnover or £18 million (approximately €21 million), depending on which amount is greater.

Additionally, if X refuses to comply with the regulator's requirements, Ofcom may seek a court order to block access to the platform in the UK.

Last week, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed his views on the Grok situation during an interview on Greatest Hits radio: "It's a disgrace. It's disgusting. And it's unacceptable. X must take control of the situation," he stated, promising to take action.

Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Liz Kendall is expected to make a statement regarding Grok in the House of Commons on Monday. Her predecessor, now Trade Minister Peter Kyle, commented on the BBC Breakfast program that Grok had not undergone proper testing, which he found outrageous.

"The fact that yesterday I met a woman who discovered that AI generated and published her image in a bikini against the backdrop of Auschwitz made me feel nauseous," he added.

The BBC has reviewed several examples of such AI-generated images. The women in them were "undressed" without their consent and "forced" to take sexual poses. One woman reported that over 100 sexualized images featuring her had been created.

As Bloomberg reported on January 7, from January 5 to 6, Grok generated about 6,700 sexualized images per hour.

Elon Musk, the owner of X, stated on one hand that individuals using Grok to create illegal content would face the same consequences as those who publish such content, while on the other hand, commenting on a post about why other AI platforms are not being scrutinized, he noted that the UK government is looking for "any excuse for censorship."

Musk also posted an image of a toaster in a bikini with the comment "Grok can put a bikini on anything," as well as a post with two photos of Starmer in a women's swimsuit, which were allegedly generated by GPT and Gemini chats, and questioned why Starmer is so concerned about Grok when other neural networks can create similar images. He added: "They just want to limit freedom of speech."

After the incident in Minneapolis, when an American Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer killed a woman during protests, some X users used Grok to "undress" an old photo of the victim and a new photo of her body after the shooting. When AFP attempted to get a comment on this, xAI responded with a brief automated message: "Traditional media lies."

The official X Safety account claims that illegal content, including materials related to sexualized violence against children, is removed, and accounts distributing it face permanent restrictions. If necessary, the social network interacts with local authorities and law enforcement representatives. Creators of such images using Grok face the same consequences as those who publish them. Elon Musk shared this post.

This week, Ofcom reported that it had "urgently contacted X and xAI" regarding the Grok feature and warned that it might initiate an investigation depending on their response. On Friday, an Ofcom representative noted that the regulator had "received a response" and is now "conducting an expedited assessment urgently."

Ofcom intends to determine whether X violated the law by delaying the removal of illegal content (as Ashley St. Clair, the mother of one of Musk's sons, stated, a "nude" photo of her 14-year-old son was on the platform for over 12 hours, despite the ability to contact X staff directly), as well as whether "appropriate measures" were taken to prevent access to this content by users in the UK. Such content includes "intimate images created without consent," as well as sexually explicit materials involving children.

An Ofcom representative did not specify the timeline for the investigation but emphasized that it would be of "the highest priority."

"Platforms are obligated to protect people in the UK from illegal content," Ofcom stated. "We will not hesitate to conduct an investigation if we suspect that companies are not fulfilling their duties, especially when there is a risk of harm to children."

On Thursday, Grok announced that the generation and editing of images are now "available only to paid subscribers," however, an official representative of the British Prime Minister noted that this merely turns the AI function that allows for the creation of illegal images into a paid service and does not solve the problem.

"This is an insult to the victims of misogyny and sexual violence," emphasized Starmer's office.

European Commission representative Thomas Renier stated: "Our position remains unchanged — whether paid subscription or free. We do not want to see such images. It's very simple."

"We demand that platforms ensure that their devices and systems do not allow the generation of such illegal content," he added.

The European Commission previously reported that it is investigating cases of the publication and creation of explicit images of young girls generated by Grok after the introduction of a paid feature called Spicy Mode last summer.

"This is not 'spicy.' This is illegal. This is outrageous. This is disgusting. There is no place for this in Europe," concluded the European Commission representative.

According to Cliff Steinhauer from the nonprofit organization National Cybersecurity Alliance, the fact that image generation tools in Grok are now available only to paid subscribers may reduce the scale of abuse but will not eliminate the security issues that allowed unauthorized sexualized content to emerge.

"Simply restricting access is not enough for comprehensive protection, as malicious actors can find workarounds, and real user protection must be built into the foundation of creating and managing such tools," he was quoted by AFP.

Recently, Grok has been blocked in Malaysia and Indonesia, and measures are also expected from France and India. This is not the first scandal associated with Grok: in July, the chatbot praised Adolf Hitler, calling itself MechaHitler, and made anti-Semitic comments. At that time, xAI announced that it would block such statements before they were published.