Elon Musk's online platform X has sparked major outrage after individuals utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change photos of women by removing their clothing.
Numerous cases have surfaced where the system has been employed to digitally undress women to render them in swimwear without permission, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the organization that created Grok, did not respond to questions, other than an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being proposed to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a upcoming law, anyone who distributed such technology would "receive a prison sentence and significant fines".
"The platform is capable of halting these types of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the potential" of people viewing illegal content on their networks, but did not specify whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some additional functions—which answers X users' requests when they mention it in a post.
It is commonly used to offer reactions or further context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to edit an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been condemned for allowing users to produce pictures and videos with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier accused of creating inappropriate material of public figures.
"X has been enabling the creation and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "depicting images of persons in a pornographic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or distribute non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "appropriate steps" to "reduce the risk" of users coming across unlawful material on their services and to remove it swiftly when they learn of it.
