Elon Musk's social media network X has caused widespread anger after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter images of females by removing their garments.
Several examples have been seen where the system has been employed to remove clothing from women to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, other than an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being brought forward to outlaw image stripping software. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the potential" of people accessing unlawful material on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some premium features—which responds to X users' requests when they tag it in a message.
It is often used to provide reactions or more context to other users' comments, but people on X are also can modify an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
History of Controversy and Policy
The chatbot has been criticised for enabling users to create images and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making sexually explicit content of public figures.
"The platform has been enabling the creation and distribution of these pictures for a long time without taking any steps and we have not seen any intervention by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "showing likenesses of people in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or circulate deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "necessary actions" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing unlawful material on their services and to take down it promptly when they learn of it.