Elon Musk's online network X has sparked major anger after users utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change photos of females by stripping their attire.
Numerous examples have been seen where the tool has been employed to remove clothing from women to show them in swimwear without permission, as well as to insert them in inappropriate contexts.
Company Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm behind Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, other than an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a proposed law, anyone who distributed such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of misuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "assess the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently examining X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some paid-for functions—which answers X users' prompts when they mention it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to offer reactions or further background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to modify an posted photo through its AI image editing tool.
History of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been criticised for enabling users to create photos and videos with nudity and sexualised material, and it was previously accused of generating inappropriate material of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the creation and sharing of these images for months without taking any steps and we have yet to see any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "depicting likenesses of individuals in a sexually explicit manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or share private pictures or illegal content" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "suitable actions" to "minimize the danger" of users viewing unlawful material on their services and to take down it swiftly when they learn of it.
