Elon Musk's online platform X has sparked major backlash after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate photos of females by taking off their attire.
Numerous examples have been seen where the tool has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to make them appear in bikinis without permission, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit situations.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the firm behind Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, other than an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being brought forward to ban image stripping tools. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "be subject to a jail term and significant penalties".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the potential" of people seeing illegal content on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some paid-for features—which answers X users' prompts when they mention it in a tweet.
It is often used to offer reactions or further background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also can edit an posted photo through its AI image editing function.
History of Controversy and Rules
The chatbot has been criticised for enabling users to create images and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously accused of creating inappropriate content of public figures.
"X has been permitting the creation and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any action and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "depicting likenesses of persons in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "appropriate actions" to "reduce the risk" of users viewing unlawful material on their services and to delete it swiftly when they learn of it.