Elon Musk's social media network X has caused significant outrage after people utilized its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate images of females by removing their attire.
Multiple examples have been seen where the tool has been used to virtually strip women to render them in swimwear without permission, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit contexts.
Developer Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm behind Grok, did not respond to questions, except for an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being brought forward to outlaw nudification technology. Under a upcoming law, anyone who supplied such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Position and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the danger" of people accessing illegal content on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some additional features—which answers X users' prompts when they reference it in a message.
It is frequently used to offer reactions or further background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to alter an posted image through its AI image editing tool.
History of Controversy and Rules
The chatbot has been criticised for allowing users to create images and clips with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating graphic content of public figures.
"X has been permitting the production and spread of these images for months without taking any measures and we have not seen any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "portraying images of people in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or distribute non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "necessary actions" to "reduce the risk" of users viewing illegal material on their platforms and to take down it quickly when they become aware of it.
