Elon Musk's online network X has provoked widespread backlash after individuals utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change photos of women by removing their clothing.
Numerous examples have surfaced where the tool has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to render them in bikinis without permission, as well as to put them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, aside from an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being proposed to prohibit image stripping software. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "face a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"The platform could prevent these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "consider the risk" of people seeing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some additional features—which reacts to X users' queries when they reference it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to give reactions or additional context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded photo through its AI image editing function.
History of Criticism and Rules
The system has been criticised for permitting users to produce images and footage with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was in the past accused of making graphic content of celebrities.
"X has been allowing the generation and distribution 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 terms of service forbids "depicting images of persons in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this included explicit AI images made with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "suitable steps" to "lessen the danger" of users viewing unlawful material on their platforms and to delete it swiftly when they learn of it.
