Elon Musk's online platform X has sparked significant backlash after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change pictures of females by taking off their clothing.
Multiple instances have emerged where the technology has been used to digitally undress female subjects to show them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit contexts.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm that created Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, other than an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A government official stated that legislation is being proposed to ban image stripping software. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "be subject to a jail term and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "assess the risk" of people seeing illegal content on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some paid-for functions—which answers X users' queries when they reference it in a post.
It is often used to offer reactions or further context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The system has been criticised for permitting users to create images and videos with nudity and sexualised material, and it was in the past accused of creating graphic material of celebrities.
"X has been enabling the generation and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "showing likenesses of persons in a sexually explicit manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or distribute non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "suitable steps" to "minimize the risk" of users coming across illegal material on their platforms and to take down it quickly when they become aware of it.
