Elon Musk's online platform X has provoked significant anger after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change images of females by taking off their attire.
Several examples have emerged where the tool has been used to virtually strip women to make them appear in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexualized scenarios.
Developer Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization behind Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, aside from an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "be subject to a jail term and significant penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the danger" of people accessing illegal content on their services, but did not specify whether it was currently examining X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some premium functions—which answers X users' requests when they tag it in a tweet.
It is often used to offer reactions or additional background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of modify an uploaded image through its AI image editing function.
History of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been condemned for allowing users to create pictures and videos with nudity and sexualised content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making inappropriate material of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the production and distribution of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "showing images of people in a sexually explicit manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or distribute private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "necessary measures" to "lessen the danger" of users coming across unlawful material on their platforms and to delete it swiftly when they become aware of it.
