Elon Musk's online network X has provoked significant backlash after individuals utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of females by taking off their attire.
Multiple examples have been seen where the system has been used to digitally undress women to show them in bikinis without permission, as well as to insert them in inappropriate contexts.
Company Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, did not respond to inquiries, other than an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being introduced to prohibit nudification technology. Under a new law, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"The platform could prevent these types of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."
Regulator Position and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the potential" of people seeing illegal content on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some additional features—which responds to X users' prompts when they mention it in a post.
It is often used to provide reactions or further context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded image through its AI image editing tool.
History of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been faulted for allowing users to generate pictures and videos with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in generating inappropriate content of public figures.
"X has been enabling the production and spread of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have not seen any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "portraying images of persons in a graphic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this applied to explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "appropriate steps" to "lessen the risk" of users encountering illegal material on their services and to delete it quickly when they become aware of it.
