Elon Musk's online platform X has sparked significant anger after users utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter images of females by stripping their clothing.
Multiple instances have been seen where the system has been used to virtually strip women to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to insert them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, remained silent to questions, aside from an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being introduced to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "face a prison sentence and significant fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of misuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Stance and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently examining X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some paid-for features—which responds to X users' requests when they mention it in a post.
It is frequently used to give reactions or further background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded picture through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been condemned for enabling users to generate photos and footage with nudity and sexualised content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in making graphic content of public figures.
"The platform has been enabling the generation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have not seen any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "showing images of individuals in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or share private pictures or illegal content" and stated this applied to explicit AI images created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "suitable measures" to "minimize the risk" of users coming across unlawful material on their platforms and to delete it promptly when they become aware of it.
