Elon Musk's online platform X has caused widespread anger after users employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter images of females by removing their attire.
Multiple instances have surfaced where the system has been used to remove clothing from women to make them appear in swimwear without consent, as well as to place them in inappropriate scenarios.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company that created Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, aside from an auto-reply message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being brought forward to outlaw image stripping software. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "be subject to a jail term and heavy penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Stance and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "assess the risk" of people seeing unlawful material on their networks, but did not specify whether it was currently examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some paid-for functions—which answers X users' prompts when they mention it in a message.
It is commonly used to offer reactions or further background to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to modify an uploaded picture through its AI image editing function.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The system has been condemned for allowing users to create photos and footage with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in generating sexually explicit content of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the creation and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "showing likenesses of persons in a pornographic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or circulate deepfakes or illegal content" and clarified this included explicit AI images created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "suitable actions" to "minimize the risk" of users encountering unlawful content on their platforms and to take down it swiftly when they are notified of it.
