Elon Musk's online platform X has caused widespread outrage after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate photos of females by removing their attire.
Several cases have surfaced where the technology has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to make them appear in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Developer Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the organization behind Grok, offered no comment to questions, except for an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that legislation is being introduced to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the danger" of people seeing unlawful material on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently examining X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some additional features—which reacts to X users' requests when they mention it in a message.
It is frequently used to offer commentary or more background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also capable of modify an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The system has been faulted for permitting users to generate pictures and videos with nudity and sexualised material, and it was earlier accused of making sexually explicit content of public figures.
"X has been enabling the generation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have yet to see any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "showing likenesses of people in a pornographic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "suitable measures" to "minimize the danger" of users encountering unlawful material on their platforms and to remove it swiftly when they learn of it.
