Elon Musk's online platform X has provoked widespread outrage after individuals utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter photos of females by removing their attire.
Several instances have surfaced where the system has been used to digitally undress women to show them in bikinis without permission, as well as to insert them in inappropriate scenarios.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, except for an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being brought forward to prohibit nudification tools. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "be subject to a jail term and significant fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the potential" of people seeing illegal content on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was presently examining X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some premium features—which reacts to X users' requests when they reference it in a tweet.
It is often used to give reactions or more context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of modify an posted photo through its AI image editing feature.
History of Criticism and Policy
The chatbot has been condemned for allowing users to produce photos and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in making graphic content of public figures.
"The platform has been allowing the production and spread of these images for months without taking any measures and we have yet to see any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "showing images of people in a graphic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or share non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this applied to sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "necessary steps" to "reduce the risk" of users coming across unlawful material on their platforms and to take down it promptly when they become aware of it.
