Elon Musk's online network X has provoked widespread outrage after individuals utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change images of females by removing their garments.
Numerous examples have been seen where the system has been used to virtually strip female subjects to render them in swimwear without permission, as well as to place them in sexually explicit situations.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, aside from an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being proposed to ban image stripping technology. Under a proposed law, anyone who provided such tools would "be subject to a jail term and substantial penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these types of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Position and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the potential" of people accessing illegal content on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was presently examining X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some paid-for features—which reacts to X users' queries when they tag it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to provide commentary or more context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an posted image through its AI image editing tool.
History of Controversy and Policy
The system has been criticised for permitting users to create images and videos with nudity and sexualised material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in creating graphic content of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the generation and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have not seen any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "depicting likenesses of persons in a pornographic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and stated this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said services such as X were mandated to take "appropriate actions" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing illegal material on their services and to remove it quickly when they become aware of it.
