Elon Musk's social media network X has caused significant backlash after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate images of females by taking off their attire.
Numerous instances have surfaced where the tool has been employed to virtually strip women to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to insert them in sexualized situations.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the company behind Grok, remained silent to inquiries, aside from an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being proposed to prohibit nudification tools. Under a new law, anyone who provided such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"The platform could prevent these forms of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the danger" of people viewing illegal content on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some premium features—which reacts to X users' requests when they mention it in a post.
It is often used to provide commentary or more background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also can modify an posted image through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been criticised for enabling users to create pictures and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in creating inappropriate content of public figures.
"X has been allowing the production and spread of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "portraying likenesses of individuals in a graphic manner".
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 created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "necessary measures" to "reduce the danger" of users coming across illegal material on their platforms and to delete it quickly when they become aware of it.
