Elon Musk's online network X has provoked widespread outrage after people utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter photos of women by taking off their attire.
Multiple cases have surfaced where the tool has been used to digitally undress female subjects to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm behind Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, except for an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being proposed to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a upcoming law, anyone who supplied such tools would "receive a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"The platform could prevent these types of misuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the danger" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some premium features—which reacts to X users' prompts when they reference it in a message.
It is frequently used to offer reactions or more background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an posted picture through its AI image editing feature.
History of Criticism and Rules
The system has been condemned for permitting users to generate photos and clips with nudity and sexualised content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in generating inappropriate content of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the production and spread of these images for months without taking any measures and we have not seen any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "portraying likenesses of individuals in a pornographic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or share non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this included explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "necessary measures" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing unlawful content on their services and to take down it quickly when they learn of it.
