Elon Musk's online platform X has provoked significant outrage after users utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change photos of women by stripping their garments.
Multiple cases have surfaced where the tool has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to show them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexualized scenarios.
Company Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm that created Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, other than an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being proposed to prohibit nudification tools. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "be subject to a jail term and heavy fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Position and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the danger" of people seeing unlawful material on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently examining X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some paid-for features—which reacts to X users' prompts when they reference it in a post.
It is often used to provide commentary or additional context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to alter an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
History of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been condemned for permitting users to create pictures and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier accused of generating inappropriate material of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the generation and spread of these images for months without taking any action and we have yet to see any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "portraying images of individuals in a pornographic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or share private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and stated this included explicit AI images made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "necessary measures" to "reduce the risk" of users viewing unlawful content on their services and to delete it promptly when they become aware of it.
