Elon Musk's online network X has caused significant outrage after users employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change photos of women by taking off their clothing.
Several examples have surfaced where the technology has been used to digitally undress female subjects to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to insert them in inappropriate situations.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the company behind Grok, remained silent to inquiries, aside from an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being introduced to prohibit image stripping software. Under a upcoming law, anyone who provided such tools would "face a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some paid-for features—which responds to X users' queries when they tag it in a post.
It is commonly used to offer commentary or further background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to alter an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The system has been criticised for allowing users to create images and clips with nudity and sexualised material, and it was previously accused of generating graphic content of celebrities.
"X has been enabling the creation and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have yet to see any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "depicting images of persons in a sexually explicit way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "appropriate actions" to "lessen the danger" of users encountering illegal content on their services and to take down it promptly when they are notified of it.
