Elon Musk's social media platform X has provoked widespread anger after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change photos of women by stripping their attire.
Multiple examples have surfaced where the tool has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to make them appear in bikinis without permission, as well as to put them in sexualized situations.
Developer Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, except for an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being proposed to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a proposed law, anyone who provided such technology would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some additional functions—which answers X users' prompts when they mention it in a post.
It is commonly used to give reactions or further background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to edit an uploaded image through its AI image editing function.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The system has been condemned for allowing users to generate images and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past accused of creating graphic content of public figures.
"X has been enabling the production and sharing of these pictures for a long time without taking any steps and we have yet to see any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "portraying images of persons in a graphic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and stated this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "suitable measures" to "reduce the risk" of users viewing illegal material on their services and to take down it swiftly when they become aware of it.
