Elon Musk's online network X has provoked widespread outrage after people utilized its AI chatbot Grok to change images of women by removing their garments.
Multiple examples have been seen where the tool has been used to digitally undress female subjects to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to place them in sexualized contexts.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization that created Grok, remained silent to questions, aside from an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being brought forward to outlaw nudification software. Under a new law, anyone who provided such tools would "receive a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
Regulator Stance and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently examining X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some additional functions—which responds to X users' prompts when they reference it in a post.
It is often used to offer commentary or additional context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of alter an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
History of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been condemned for enabling users to generate pictures and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past accused of making graphic material of public figures.
"The platform has been enabling the generation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any action and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "depicting likenesses of persons in a graphic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or share deepfakes or illegal content" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "appropriate measures" to "lessen the risk" of users coming across illegal content on their platforms and to delete it promptly when they become aware of it.
