Elon Musk's social media platform X has sparked widespread backlash after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to change images of women by removing their attire.
Numerous instances have surfaced where the system has been used to digitally undress female subjects to show them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the company behind Grok, remained silent to inquiries, aside from an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being proposed to prohibit nudification software. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "face a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the danger" of people accessing unlawful material on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some additional features—which reacts to X users' requests when they reference it in a message.
It is often used to offer commentary or additional background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The chatbot has been condemned for enabling users to generate images and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier accused of making graphic content of celebrities.
"X has been allowing the production and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any action and we have not seen any intervention by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "portraying images of people in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "suitable steps" to "reduce the risk" of users viewing illegal material on their platforms and to delete it swiftly when they become aware of it.
