Elon Musk's online network X has caused widespread backlash after individuals used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change images of women by removing their clothing.
Several instances have been seen where the system has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to render them in swimwear without consent, as well as to put them in sexually explicit situations.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the company that created Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, except for an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being proposed to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a proposed law, anyone who distributed such tools would "receive a prison sentence and significant fines".
"The platform is capable of halting these types of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the danger" of people seeing unlawful material on their services, but did not specify whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some additional features—which reacts to X users' queries when they reference it in a message.
It is often used to provide commentary or further context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of alter an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The system has been condemned for enabling users to produce images and clips with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past accused of making inappropriate material of public figures.
"The platform has been enabling the production and spread of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have yet to see any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "portraying images of individuals in a pornographic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and stated this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "necessary actions" to "minimize the risk" of users coming across illegal content on their services and to remove it quickly when they learn of it.
