Elon Musk's social media platform X has caused widespread backlash after individuals utilized its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate images of females by removing their garments.
Numerous instances have been seen where the system has been used to virtually strip female subjects to show them in bikinis without permission, as well as to insert them in inappropriate contexts.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the company that created Grok, remained silent to questions, except for an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to outlaw nudification software. Under a proposed law, anyone who supplied such technology would "be subject to a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the risk" of people accessing unlawful material on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some premium functions—which responds to X users' queries when they reference it in a message.
It is commonly used to offer reactions or additional context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of modify an uploaded picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
History of Controversy and Policy
The chatbot has been criticised for permitting users to produce photos and clips with nudity and sexualised content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in creating graphic content of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the generation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have not seen any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "showing images of individuals in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or share private pictures or illegal content" and confirmed this included sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "necessary steps" to "reduce the danger" of users coming across unlawful content on their services and to remove it quickly when they learn of it.
