Elon Musk's online network X has provoked significant backlash after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate pictures of females by taking off their garments.
Numerous cases have been seen where the technology has been used to digitally undress female subjects to render them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to put them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Company Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, except for an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to prohibit image stripping software. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "be subject to a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but did not specify whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some additional functions—which reacts to X users' prompts when they reference it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to give commentary or additional background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also capable of edit an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The chatbot has been criticised for allowing users to produce pictures and clips with nudity and sexualised content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in making sexually explicit material of celebrities.
"X has been enabling the creation and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have not seen any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "portraying images of individuals in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "appropriate measures" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing illegal material on their services and to remove it quickly when they learn of it.
