Elon Musk's online network X has sparked widespread backlash after individuals employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change photos of women by stripping their clothing.
Multiple instances have emerged where the tool has been used to digitally undress women to make them appear in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit contexts.
Developer Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm that created Grok, did not respond to questions, other than an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being introduced to prohibit image stripping software. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a jail term and heavy fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the danger" of people viewing illegal content on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was presently examining X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some paid-for features—which answers X users' queries when they tag it in a tweet.
It is often used to give commentary or further background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can modify an uploaded picture through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been criticised for allowing users to create photos and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past accused of creating graphic material of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the creation and distribution of these images for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "portraying images of individuals in a sexually explicit way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or distribute non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "necessary actions" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing unlawful content on their services and to remove it quickly when they become aware of it.