Elon Musk's online network X has caused significant backlash after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of women by removing their attire.
Numerous instances have surfaced where the tool has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to show them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization behind Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, aside from an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being proposed to outlaw nudification tools. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "receive a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these types of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the risk" of people seeing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some paid-for functions—which answers X users' requests when they tag it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to provide commentary or more context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can edit an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
History of Criticism and Rules
The system has been condemned for enabling users to create images and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier accused of generating inappropriate material of public figures.
"The platform has been enabling the production and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any action and we have yet to see any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "portraying likenesses of persons in a pornographic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or distribute private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "appropriate actions" to "reduce the danger" of users encountering unlawful material on their platforms and to remove it promptly when they become aware of it.
