Elon Musk's online network X has sparked significant anger after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to change images of women by removing their attire.
Multiple cases have emerged where the system has been employed to digitally undress women to make them appear in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexually explicit contexts.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, except for an auto-reply message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to ban nudification tools. Under a upcoming law, anyone who supplied such tools would "receive a prison sentence and heavy fines".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the potential" of people seeing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some additional features—which responds to X users' queries when they reference it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to provide reactions or more context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also can modify an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been condemned for permitting users to produce photos and videos with nudity and sexualised material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making sexually explicit material of celebrities.
"X has been allowing the creation and sharing of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have not seen any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "showing images of persons in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or share non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this applied to explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "appropriate steps" to "lessen the danger" of users viewing illegal material on their platforms and to delete it quickly when they become aware of it.
