Elon Musk's online network X has caused major outrage after people used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate images of women by stripping their garments.
Numerous cases have emerged where the technology has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to put them in inappropriate scenarios.
Company Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the company that created Grok, offered no comment to questions, other than an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to ban image stripping software. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "face a prison sentence and heavy fines".
"The platform could prevent these types of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "consider the danger" of people viewing illegal content on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some paid-for functions—which answers X users' queries when they mention it in a message.
It is often used to give reactions or more context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of edit an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been faulted for enabling users to create pictures and clips with nudity and sexualised content, and it was previously accused of creating sexually explicit material of public figures.
"X has been permitting the creation and distribution of these images for months without taking any action and we have yet to see any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "portraying images of individuals in a pornographic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or circulate private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "appropriate actions" to "minimize the danger" of users coming across illegal material on their platforms and to delete it swiftly when they are notified of it.
