Elon Musk's online platform X has provoked major outrage after people utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change images of women by removing their attire.
Several examples have emerged where the technology has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to show them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to put them in inappropriate contexts.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm behind Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, aside from an automatically-generated message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being proposed to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a proposed law, anyone who supplied such tools would "face a jail term and heavy fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the risk" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was currently examining X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some premium functions—which reacts to X users' prompts when they reference it in a post.
It is often used to provide commentary or further context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also can modify an posted photo through its AI image editing function.
History of Criticism and Policy
The system has been condemned for enabling users to create photos and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past accused of creating graphic material of celebrities.
"X has been enabling the production and distribution of these images for months without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "showing likenesses of individuals in a graphic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "suitable steps" to "lessen the risk" of users viewing illegal material on their services and to remove it quickly when they are notified of it.
