Elon Musk's online platform X has caused significant outrage after users utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate pictures of women by removing their garments.
Several instances have been seen where the technology has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to place them in sexualized contexts.
Developer Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, aside from an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being brought forward to outlaw image stripping software. Under a upcoming law, anyone who supplied such technology would "receive a prison sentence and heavy fines".
"The platform is capable of halting these types of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was presently examining X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some paid-for functions—which reacts to X users' queries when they reference it in a post.
It is commonly used to offer commentary or additional context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also can modify an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
History of Controversy and Rules
The chatbot has been criticised for allowing users to create photos and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in generating inappropriate content of public figures.
"The platform has been enabling the production and spread of these images for months without taking any action and we have yet to see any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "portraying images of persons in a pornographic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or circulate private pictures or illegal content" and clarified this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "suitable measures" to "minimize the danger" of users encountering unlawful material on their platforms and to take down it swiftly when they become aware of it.
