Elon Musk's social media network X has sparked significant backlash after individuals employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate images of females by taking off their garments.
Multiple examples have been seen where the system has been used to virtually strip female subjects to show them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to place them in inappropriate contexts.
Company Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm that created Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, other than an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being proposed to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a new law, anyone who distributed such tools would "face a jail term and substantial fines".
"The platform could prevent these forms of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the danger" of people seeing illegal content on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some additional functions—which responds to X users' requests when they mention it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to give reactions or more background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can edit an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The system has been condemned for permitting users to produce images and footage with nudity and sexualised material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making sexually explicit content of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the generation and spread of these images for a long time without taking any action and we have not witnessed any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "portraying likenesses of people in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and stated this covered explicit AI images made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "necessary actions" to "lessen the danger" of users encountering illegal content on their services and to delete it quickly when they become aware of it.
