Elon Musk's online network X has provoked major outrage after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter images of women by stripping their garments.
Several examples have surfaced where the system has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to insert them in sexualized contexts.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm behind Grok, did not respond to questions, except for an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a proposed law, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a prison sentence and significant fines".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was currently examining X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some paid-for features—which reacts to X users' requests when they tag it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to give reactions or more context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to edit an uploaded image through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been condemned for enabling users to produce photos and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in generating graphic content of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the creation and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have not seen any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "depicting likenesses of persons in a pornographic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this applied to explicit AI images made with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "necessary actions" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing unlawful material on their platforms and to delete it quickly when they learn of it.
