Elon Musk's online network X has caused major backlash after users utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change photos of women by stripping their clothing.
Several cases have emerged where the tool has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to render them in bikinis without permission, as well as to place them in sexualized scenarios.
Company Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, aside from an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping software. Under a proposed law, anyone who distributed such tools would "face a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
Regulator Position and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the potential" of people accessing unlawful material on their networks, but did not specify whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some additional features—which responds to X users' requests when they mention it in a post.
It is frequently used to provide reactions or further context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can edit an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
History of Controversy and Rules
The system has been criticised for permitting users to generate images and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in creating graphic content of public figures.
"The platform has been enabling the production and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have not seen any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "portraying images of individuals in a pornographic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "suitable actions" to "reduce the danger" of users coming across illegal content on their services and to remove it swiftly when they become aware of it.
