Elon Musk's online network X has provoked widespread outrage after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter photos of females by removing their attire.
Multiple examples have emerged where the technology has been used to virtually strip female subjects to make them appear in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the organization that created Grok, offered no comment to questions, except for an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being brought forward to ban image stripping technology. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "be subject to a jail term and substantial fines".
"The platform could prevent these types of abuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "consider the risk" of people viewing unlawful material on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some premium functions—which reacts to X users' prompts when they mention it in a post.
It is frequently used to offer commentary or more context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to edit an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
History of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been criticised for enabling users to create photos and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in making sexually explicit material of public figures.
"X has been enabling the creation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "portraying images of people in a pornographic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or distribute private pictures or illegal content" and stated this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "suitable actions" to "lessen the danger" of users viewing illegal content on their platforms and to take down it quickly when they become aware of it.
