Elon Musk's social media network X has caused significant outrage after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter photos of females by stripping their attire.
Numerous instances have been seen where the system has been used to virtually strip women to render them in bikinis without consent, as well as to put them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Company Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the organization behind Grok, did not respond to questions, except for an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office official stated that legislation is being introduced to outlaw image stripping technology. Under a proposed law, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "assess the risk" of people seeing unlawful material on their networks, but did not specify whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some premium features—which reacts to X users' queries when they tag it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to give commentary or more context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of modify an uploaded image through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been condemned for permitting users to create images and videos with nudity and sexualised material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in creating sexually explicit content of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the creation and spread of these images for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "showing likenesses of persons in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or share deepfakes or illegal content" and confirmed this included explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "appropriate measures" to "lessen the risk" of users viewing unlawful content on their platforms and to remove it promptly when they are notified of it.
