Elon Musk's online network X has caused major outrage after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter images of women by taking off their clothing.
Multiple examples have emerged where the system has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to make them appear in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in sexualized contexts.
Company Response and Legal Position
XAI, the company that created Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, other than an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being introduced to outlaw image stripping software. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "face a jail term and significant fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the danger" of people accessing illegal content on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently examining X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some additional functions—which reacts to X users' requests when they reference it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to offer commentary or more background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an posted picture through its AI image editing function.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been faulted for allowing users to generate photos and footage with nudity and sexualised material, and it was earlier accused of generating graphic content of public figures.
"The platform has been allowing the generation and distribution of these images for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "portraying images of people in a sexually explicit way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or distribute private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this covered explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "necessary actions" to "reduce the risk" of users encountering illegal material on their platforms and to remove it quickly when they become aware of it.
