Elon Musk's online platform X has sparked significant anger after users employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change pictures of women by stripping their clothing.
Several cases have surfaced where the tool has been used to virtually strip women to render them in bikinis without permission, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the company behind Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, aside from an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being brought forward to outlaw nudification technology. Under a upcoming law, anyone who provided such technology would "face a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "consider the potential" of people accessing unlawful material on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was presently examining X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some premium functions—which reacts to X users' requests when they mention it in a post.
It is frequently used to offer commentary or further context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of edit an posted image through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been condemned for enabling users to create photos and clips with nudity and sexualised material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating graphic content of public figures.
"The platform has been enabling the generation and sharing of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have yet to see any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "portraying likenesses of persons in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or circulate deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "suitable actions" to "minimize the danger" of users viewing illegal material on their platforms and to take down it promptly when they learn of it.
