Elon Musk's online platform X has provoked major backlash after individuals employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change pictures of females by removing their attire.
Multiple instances have emerged where the tool has been used to virtually strip women to make them appear in swimwear without permission, as well as to place them in sexualized scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization that created Grok, did not respond to inquiries, aside from an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being brought forward to outlaw image stripping software. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "be subject to a jail term and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "consider the risk" of people accessing unlawful material on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently examining X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some additional functions—which answers X users' prompts when they mention it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to offer reactions or more background to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to edit an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been condemned for allowing users to produce images and clips with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past accused of making graphic material of public figures.
"The platform has been allowing the creation and spread of these images for a long time without taking any action and we have not seen any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "portraying images of persons in a sexually explicit way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or circulate deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this included explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "necessary actions" to "minimize the risk" of users encountering illegal material on their services and to take down it quickly when they are notified of it.
