Elon Musk's online network X has provoked widespread anger after people utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter images of females by removing their garments.
Numerous examples have surfaced where the tool has been used to remove clothing from women to render them in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in inappropriate contexts.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the company behind Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, aside from an auto-reply message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office official stated that legislation is being brought forward to ban image stripping technology. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "receive a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the potential" of people accessing illegal content on their services, but did not specify whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some additional functions—which answers X users' queries when they mention it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to give commentary or additional context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can edit an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
History of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been condemned for allowing users to create pictures and videos with nudity and sexualised material, and it was previously accused of creating graphic content of public figures.
"The platform has been enabling the generation and spread of these images for a long time without taking any action and we have not witnessed any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "portraying likenesses of people in a graphic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "necessary measures" to "reduce the danger" of users coming across unlawful material on their services and to take down it quickly when they become aware of it.
